First, Do No Harm !

These are the opening words of the Hippocratic Oath, sworn solemnly by every new entrant to the medical profession and taken very seriously as a cornerstone of their profession.

Teachers’ Day in India should be a time for us to evaluate our profession, what it does and (most importantly) how it could do it better.

As an offering to that introspection process, here are a few things to read;

a) This is an article from an Assistant Professor from Utah State University. It sets out the case for a Hippocratic Oath in the education profession – a focus on each individual student, instead of how we process them as batches and cohorts:
Education Week Article: Do No Harm

b) A Hippocratic Oath for educators is something I’ve been advocating for a long time. The earliest reference I could locate here on the blog was from an article I wrote about teacher standards in 2010:
Blog – That Teacher Performance Issue

c) I set out my thoughts on the need for such an Oath in more detail this time last year:
Blog – Teachers’ Day 2013 Article

So, whilst there’s nothing wrong with raising a toast to our profession and celebrating on this day, let’s also ensure that we use the occasion for a little introspection about where we want it to go in the future.