10 Years, 300 Posts, 2,64,000 Words: The Journey Continues

10 Years, 300 Posts, 2,64,000 Words: The Journey Continues

 

When I began writing ten years ago, I wasn’t thinking of an archive. I was only trying to record moments — the classroom conversations that lingered, the questions that refused to settle, the reforms that made me hopeful, and sometimes, helpless. Writing was never a project; it was an act of reflection. Today, when I look back at three hundred blog posts — 846 pages and around 2,64,000 words, roughly equivalent to three PhD theses — it feels less like a collection and more like a mirror. A mirror that reflects my journey as a teacher and researcher.  Across this decade, my writings have revolved around ten broad themes (have broadly identified it after the analysis) — each emerging from lived experience, each carrying traces of a teacher who is still learning.

 

I have often returned to a few recurring questions — about teacher agency, about how teachers learn and grow, and about why society still finds it so hard to grant them the respect they deserve. My reflections on programs like the Mentor Teacher and Teacher Development Coordinator initiatives grew out of this concern — a belief that professional development must begin with trust and autonomy.

I have also written extensively about the pedagogical challenges and reforms that shape our classrooms — questioning the culture of standardized testing, exploring alternative approaches like the Happiness Curriculum and the Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum, and reflecting on how technology, including AI, can both support and complicate learning. Underneath these explorations lies a deeper commitment to equity and social justice — to reimagining curriculum, schools, and infrastructure so that they truly serve children from marginalized and disadvantaged backgrounds.

Through all these writings, I have consistently argued for a more progressive vision of education — one that moves beyond rote learning and compliance, and toward classrooms that are student-centered, research-informed, and democratically governed. In many ways, my decade of writing has been a slow unfolding of this single idea: that education must begin with freedom — for teachers, for students, and for thought itself.

 

Here, I briefly present the ten themes and refer to one article from each; however, each theme actually includes more than twenty articles.

 

1. Teacher Identity, Status, and Social Perception

I have found that the profession of teaching struggles with low social status and public misunderstanding. My writing often details the stereotypes and expectations placed upon teachers, which sometimes feel deeply restrictive.

Article : The dilemma of being a teacher

I realize early in my journey that I should not expect any social status as a teacher, exemplified by a neighbor's dismissive remark, "Oh, just a teacher!". The prevailing concept of a teacher suggests specific qualities: they should be of small or average height, have a weak physique, and generally possess only average knowledge, leading me to question if society truly wants quality teachers for their children. I have noted that colleagues often feel frustrated because their professional identity is measured by their "POST" and the lack of promotion opportunities, believing a clerk's job is better.

 

2. Fulbright Fellowship and International Educational Exchange

My time in the US as a Fulbright TEA Fellow at George Mason University in Virginia provided profound professional and personal insights. This experience became a source of extensive writing, reflecting on global citizenship, educational infrastructure, and the shared human experience that transcends national borders1.

Article : My American School Diary

            I found that my identity shifted once I was in the American school environment. Students from India, Pakistan, Tibet, and Nepal came to meet me, and we immediately connected through Hindi or Urdu4. A significant moment occurred when a student from Lahore told me, "Here, we all are brown," which made me feel elevated above the dividing lines drawn on the ground4. I realized how language holds a magic, connecting people easily4.

 

 

3. Teacher Professional Development and Mentoring

My work frequently focuses on improving in-service teacher training, moving away from meaningless rituals toward demand-based, effective development.

Article : Mentor Teacher Program; A paradigm shift in Adult Learning

I describe the Mentor Teacher Program (MTP) as a pivotal initiative, offering intensive training and international exposure to mentor teachers. I see the MTP as a mechanism for organizations like schools to learn from their internal functioning, allowing teachers to step out of the daily 'procession' to gain invaluable insights. The program has been successful because it encourages teachers to recognize personally, "I need to learn!".

 

4. Pedagogy, Curriculum, and Assessment Philosophy

I consistently challenge traditional, colonial approaches to teaching and assessment, advocating for methods focused on critical understanding and connection to daily life.

Article : The magic of understanding the structure of a discipline

I reflect on the idea of teaching the "structure of a discipline," which involves talking about the underlying axioms and pervasive themes of a subject. I explain to my students how the history textbook "Contemporary World" is organized to help them understand why we are the way we are ("Main aisa kyon hu?"). I find that connecting content to the day-to-day life of the learner is crucial for retaining relevance.

5. Teacher Agency, Autonomy, and Bureaucracy

My writing dissects the inherent conflict between the teacher's professional identity and the controlling nature of bureaucracy, emphasizing the need for teacher agency.

Article : Teachers, Autonomy, and the Quest for Negotiations

I analyze the source of teacher frustration, explaining that they are treated as part of the bureaucratic machinery, where subordination and control are inherent characteristics. I note that teachers desire autonomy but are reluctant to compromise the security provided by bureaucracy, creating mental unrest. I assert that negotiation is the only wise course of action, and that knowledge (as Foucault suggests) holds the greatest authority for navigating the bureaucratic landscape.

6. The Importance of Reading and Literary Engagement

I continually advocate for developing a reading culture among teachers, viewing it as crucial for professional growth beyond institutional training.

Article : Teachers Who Read, Inspire, and Lead

I celebrate the community built around the 'Read with a Teacher' program, noting the sheer diversity of genres explored by teachers, including Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed and philosophical works. I emphasize that this shared journey reinforces the idea that reading is a communal activity that thrives on shared experiences. I believe that by cultivating this habit, teachers not only enrich their minds but set a powerful example for their students, embodying lifelong learning.

7. Social and Political Commentary

My writing often delves into contemporary social and political issues, urging critical reflection and the cultivation of active citizenship.

Article : WAR or NO WAR

I describe the challenging position I face when students ask if there will be a war. I speak to them about the historical absurdity of using a "dead boundary line" drawn by Radcliffe in 1947 to make neighbors enemies who share the same language and culture. I leave my students to reflect on the purpose and achievement of past wars.

 

8. Global Exposure and Cross-Cultural Learning in Social Sciences

My experiences abroad through fellowships have led to deep reflections on global citizenship, collaboration, and the importance of an international perspective for Social Science teachers.

 

Article: Social Science of Shared Histories, Struggles, Stories and Perspectives

I articulate my belief that Social Science teachers are storytellers preparing "Global citizens, the citizens whose concern for the people crosses the boundaries of the nation". I highlight that despite linguistic and cultural differences, human experiences, such as the struggle for justice or colonial subjugation (in Vietnam, India, and South Africa), are fundamentally the same. A teacher with global exposure adds life to the curriculum content by providing a global perspective.

9. Addressing Challenges of Marginalized Learners and Inclusion

I focus on the structural biases within the education system that hinder students from marginalized and disadvantaged backgrounds.

Article: Rethinking Middle-Class Paradigms

• • I argue that the entire education system is designed around middle-class values, assuming structured family life and organized sector jobs. I emphasize that children from marginalized sections of society, whose parents often work long hours without holidays, cannot find representation in this system. I advocate for an education system embedded in the lived experiences of these children to offer them hope and dignity.

 

10. The Impact of Technology and Digital Transformation on Education

I explore the complex relationship between technology, learning accessibility, and the potential risks of digital surveillance and market monopolization in education.

Article: Mining the Mind: The Implications of Surveillance Capitalism in the Digital Age

I review Shoshana Zuboff's work, equating the current technological revolution to the mining of human emotions by powerful corporations, which shifts control over individual choices. I express deep concern that apps are designed to be addictive, constantly battling for attention, and profiting from gathering and selling user data.

If I had to summarize these 300 stories, I’d say they are less about education and more about becoming. Becoming aware, critical, compassionate. Writing kept me in conversation — with ideas, with systems, with myself. It helped me move from seeing problems to perceiving patterns, from frustration to faith. Education, for me, has always been more than policy or pedagogy — it’s a moral project. And teaching, despite its struggles, remains one of the few professions where reflection is both the method and the reward. As I celebrate this milestone, I don’t feel that I’ve arrived anywhere. If anything, writing has only deepened my questions. But perhaps that’s what being a teacher really means — to live with questions, and to keep turning them into stories.