A give-and -take of ideas took place between me and a colleague over drinking tea while teaching. " Teachers are not allowed to take cups of tea with them to the classroom and during a class time", my colleague said assertedly and nervously. Unsurprisingly, my colleague's attitude towards tea, and consequently towards me, does not come out of the void; for he always glimpses me holding a cup of tea, coffee or sometimes soda, while heading for the classroom.
Admittedly, I really enjoy drinking tea during teaching. And I do believe drinking tea can promote the teaching/learning process for the following reasons:1. Drinking tea, coffee or soda does enable a teacher to carry on teaching energetically.
2. Students feel much at ease and stress-free when they see their teacher at ease and behave "naturally".
3. Students ( especially high school students) are grown up enough to be treated "rigidly" and "strictly" like kids*.
4. High school Students must be prepared for the university life and "rituals".*
5. Language teachers (especially teachers of English) are supposed to transmit not only the language but the culture as well.
To conclude, there is no harm in drinking tea, coffee or soda in the classroom while teaching. It is not anti-pedagogic! Rather it is a healthy "phenomenon" as long as the teacher does his/her job right. And I drink tea, coffee or soda, so I teach well. Even the word "teaching" embodies-- or maybe better, co-exists with-- the word "tea" !
