Joyful Vocation of a Teacher – Foreword

Joyful Vocation of a Teacher

Dr. T.M. Thomas

Foreword by Rt. Rev. Dr. Geevarghese Mar Theodosius

 

I am happy to write a foreword to the book Joyful Vocation of a Teacher. It is the autobiographical reflection on the life and teaching of Prof. Emeritus Dr. T. M. Thomas. The book is quite interesting, informative, and enriching. I recommend this for the reading of everyone: both religious and secular. One can read the history of a lifespan, the multicultural traits, and the experiences of an immigrant community.

Dr. T. M. Thomas is a Mar Thoma Christian, very devoted, having noble leadership qualities and exemplary in religious practices. He is one of the strong founding fathers of the Mar Thoma Diocese in North America. He has a wider ecumenical relationship and proud of being a member of the ancient Church, established by the Apostle St. Thomas. He builds this future by teaching the children of this generation.

Dr. Thomas started his career as a high school teacher and retired as a university professor from University of Bridgeport. The style of this book reveals his skill as an efficient teacher. One characteristic of this book is that every chapter has an introduction and conclusion, and the author beautifully links the chapters for continuity and easy reading. The matter presented is clear, and one can see the transparency and integrity of the writer. He is a person in community. He has friends on a wider circle, in the academic, religious, and secular fields. He can be called a global man as his influence and contacts are universal. His dictum remains, “think globally and act locally.” He has traveled far and wide, and his description of an all American tour of 22 cities in three months narrated in the book is valid and interesting. He says that his life was transformed with the tour. Look to his word: “There was a new philosophy and orientation to my life” (. 143). The life of Dr. Thomas is both explained in terms of his connections and relationships.

As an autobiographical reflection, the book reveals the person and work of Dr. Thomas. The book carefully and clearly unravels the different stages of his life and social, cultural, and spiritual mooring in which his personal identity as an integrated whole is molded and the person grew to universal significance. His own statement in the book, “Among all God’s creatures or creation, humans occupy a unique place and hence unique responsibilities” is true about his self as well (p. 32). He is unique, and his contributions carry a distinct spectrum.

Dr. T. M. Thomas in his book speaks of his joyful vocation. He started teaching at the age of 20 and has a wide range of teaching through 51 years till he formally retired at the age of 71 from the university in January 2005. He continues as a teacher even now in many circles. As a teacher, he is a good student. When he graduated from University College, Trivandrum, Kerala, he started his career at Perumbavoor Asram High School (Residential School) and continued his studies for B.Ed., M.Ed. (Madras University, 1962), M.A. (Putney, Vermont, USA, 1964), Ed.D. (Boston University, USA), and M.A. in Sociology (University of Connecticut, 1983). Reading has been a pleasure in his life, and he equipped himself for the various contemporary courses he had to take by way of study, research, interactions, and teaching. He says: Reading and reflection makes one knowledgeable. And knowledge is to be shared (p. 190).

There is transformative goodness in an effective teacher. Effective and successful teaching, Dr. Thomas says depends on three factors: knowledge of the subject, pedagogy (skill in teaching), and dispositions relating particularly to values which students will remember for later years (p. 95). He communicates in his book, that teachers are agents of social justice and social change, teachers and students immerse in social problems and then reflect on such issues for better learning (so learning is best achieved in a community of learners and community at large) and self-knowledge is the key for growth.

With a very long experience in teaching Dr. Thomas says in this book that education is an “institution deriving its meanings and energy from the surrounding environment of things and of man” (p. 254). The quality of education is rooted in human relationships. Pointing to the problems in educational fields, he says, educational problems are not born in an academic vacuum; they arise in response to the existing social, political, economic, and moral needs of the culture (p. 254). He defines a good school by saying that it is where students learn lessons related. “In a good school qualities related to head and heart work together” (p. 259). He cautions the danger of “education for knowledge” becoming a matter of pride and power and advocates that education as a transforming power must produce humility and service to others. He also sees the advancement of knowledge, and its application through high technology resulting in the loss of “wisdom in knowledge.” Hence what is needed in the field of education is integration of knowledge and virtues, so that people obtain wisdom and respect for life. The thesis of the book, I believe, is that in the process of education, self-fulfillment, and self-sacrifice, are to be integrated for a joyful life here and hereafter.

Dr. Thomas has a number of publications to his credit. One can have a glimpse of his publications through the lines of this book. He has co-authored in some books and has edited a few. His wife, Mrs. Annamma Thomas, is also a post-graduate teacher and has co-authored in one of his books. Since 1956, she is always there as “Sahadharmini” in the life and work of Dr. Thomas. He always looked for teamwork both in his academic career and his publications. All his publications are on social themes. They are widely read and hence some of the books are out of print. He analyzes the contemporary society in the following words: “Our society has become secular when material values dominate the scene. Moral and spiritual values have been lost or declined over the years. The material explanation of everything result in the loss of sacredness, and people live their lives without finding meaning in life. People behave a cruel way by fighting and killing each other. In order to change the situation, we need different value systems and priorities” (Chapter 24). You can see a prophet here beating a “Different Drum,” as Scott Peck has entitled one of his books.

This book mentions about the four responsibilities of a professor and narrates how these were true in the life of Dr. Thomas. The four responsibilities are: 1) Teaching, 2) Research and publications, 3) Sharing administrative duties, and 4) Service to community. The book indicates how sabbatical year can be fruitfully used. His teaching career and life in America has not been a “bed of roses.” His experiences include the equanimity of mind he experienced in dealing with the prolonged “Faculty Strike” at the University of Bridgeport in 1990, and the prolonged struggle to have the first recognized Mar Thoma Parish in New York in 1970s. Understanding the motto of the Asram High School, Kerala, India, where he began his career, Dr. Thomas proved in his life, his life principle, “By love, serve one another.”

Dr. Thomas is happily married with his wife Annamma. They have two sons who live with their families in America. Mr. & Mrs. Thomas enjoy the love of their children and grandchildren. The eldest son, Mathews with his wife Reni and their children (Suzanne and Philip), and the youngest son Danny with his wife Beena and three girls (Mira, Sara, & Nina) reside in New Jersey and Maryland respectively.

The book is interesting in that it has a chapter on Retired Life and Aging in America. Dr. Thomas is humorous on several points in the book, as he himself is cheerful and jovial always. The very fact that he has added a chapter on “Aging” indicates that he has satisfactorily retired from active service and is prepared for the onward journey. At one instance, while narrating about the various names by which he is known because of his immigration from one culture to another, he wonders: What will God call him when He calls him “home.”

The book states that aging is a process and one becomes wiser. Quoting Gail Sheehy, explains that the number of people reaching old age now is much higher than before. Old age is a time for readjustments in financial planning and psychological adjustments. Though the retired craves to fulfill unrealized dreams in life, Dr. Thomas remarks that one grows in wisdom to understand that one cannot accomplish everything in one’s life. In old age, one realistically looks at death, loss, separation, meaning of life, and other related questions.

Dr. Thomas is optimistic about life. He is a practicing Christian. God is at the center of his life. He has faith and hope. Therefore, he says that there is no retirement, rather one moves to greater fulfillment and perfection with the relationship to God, nature, and fellow beings. “Retirement is the time when we raise questions about meaning and significance by relating to God for which we need more time for meditation and prayer. In this way, we become wiser which is usually associated with old age” (Chapter 23).

The depth of his faith is echoed when he says, “When death is accepted as a fact of life, living itself will be enriching.” He also expresses his hope pointing to the “Crown of Righteousness” in the Kingdom of God saying, “Eternal life begins in this world and continues in the next.” So it’s not the question of dying, but the concern of living a worthy life.

The book is good for all cross section of people including the religious. Dr. Thomas narrates about his religious practices, and how he was fond of religious teaching to children in Sunday School throughout his life. He has a passion for Sunday School teaching. The best reward the Church in America can give to him is to keep alive and fruitful the Christian education to the children of all ages everywhere. He rightly points out that the Christian Church has challenges in the modern age. He points out that meditative life associated with everyday living has disappeared (p. 239). Life has to be enriched with prayer and solitude. In an age where human tendency is to evade fundamental questions related to living and ignore them, there is a greater need today to return to God and find that all human relationships are to be explained with God at the center. He says, “The greater challenge of religious education is the integration of knowledge and virtues so that we obtain wisdom and respect (reverence) for life in this culture of death.”

This book is a contribution of Dr. Thomas to the world, as his life is. I recommend this book whole heartedly, without any hesitation for all the cross section of the people, young and old, to read and to be enriched.

Best Wishes,

Mar Theodosius, Ph.D.

(McMaster University)