Gr2Math Properties of Addition

Chance or Choice?

To be a teacher in the right sense is to be a learner. Instruction begins when you, the teacher, learn from the learner, put yourself in his place so that you may understand what he understands and in the way he understands it. - Soren Kierkegaard

 

What does it take to be a teacher? Why do some people love to teach? Does a person who teaches or wishes to teach a teacher? I believe that to teach is more than simply a choice among the array of jobs in the society. It is even hard to accept that to think that there is something true about describing the desire to teach as a choice at all. Because if you have a strong inclination toward teaching there is no need to argue whether to teach but rather you are already contemplating how or under what circumstances you need to do. Prior to your becoming a teacher, you have already considered teaching in schools, in institutions of higher education, or in one of the many other social settings in which teaching can occur. I am sure that we know some who have worked for sometimes in other lines of endeavor – business, law, parenting, the medical field, the field of engineering – before the right conditions have materialized. In my case, after my resignation from a public school I tried working in other institutions. Although my work geared toward teacher training but I was still longing to work in a school. So I applied in a university where I experienced teaching college students and graduate students. However, I knew from the beginning that I could not stay there. After almost three years in that institution, I left. I left with a heavy feeling  because of some circumstances that I went through. I was a bit desperate and promise not to teach again. I tried working in an Education Network as an Academic Manager, but I resigned after few months because I could not cope with the demands of the work. And here again I am  back to teaching.

Many of us have become teachers because we were either influenced by our own teachers or we did not have any choice – but to be a teacher. However, in whatever case, still, the fact remains that now you have taken on that interest yourself. This only suggests one thing – you conceived teaching as more than a job – more than a way to earn - although earning is obviously relevant and necessary. Furthermore, you believe teaching to be potentially meaningful, as the way to instantiate your desire to contribute to, engage with, the world. Persons with this choice are not necessarily heroic. This implies a measure of determination, courage, and flexibility, qualities that are in turn buoyed by the disposition to regard teaching more than a job, to which one has something significant to offer.

A person who wants to teach doubtless hopes, at some level of thought of feeling, is person who has a say in what principles and purposes will guide the classroom, as well as how these goals would be realized. A teacher would always supplement and in most cases extend the functional requirements of the job. It may mean questioning some of those requirements. As a teacher, I believe that we need to find ways to pay increased attention to what our students say, think, and feel about what they are learning rather than just delivering them the goods. Or even worse, feeling oblige to teach and finish the lesson by making it more difficult for the students. I also believe that if we have this stance, as teacher, we should be our own final critic. This is a stance that will accompany our profession as teachers as more than routine.

What Does It Mean to Teach?

A teacher's compassion is like a pebble thrown into a pool of water. The ripples spread far beyond the point of impact. - Dear Abby

         It is said that to educate is to teach. Let us play with words and look at etymology of the word education and of few related words. Hopefully, we can learn from historical and cultural perspective on the very concept of education, and on related words that we might otherwise have taken for granted in the usage of our own time and place.

         The Oxford English Dictionary tells us that the word education came into the English from Latin educare, which originally meant to rear, to bring up, as one does to children. In the idiom of contemporary American English, we might say that the sense of to educate is to raise and to be well-educated is to be raised well. This I think mean that the notion of educare does not only include the notion of teaching and training, but also that of nourishing – of ensuring that all the requirements for growth and development of a young people are being met.

         If we would take seriously the root meanings of the word education, we could see that it can give us insights and renewed awareness of the rich connections between education and other qualities and ideas that we do not usually associate with it today. As teachers, it is obvious that we are leaders. This form of leadership involved nurturing the young, training or pulling forth the student with an active and purposive leading from one place, condition, or shape to another – a lot better than before. These ideas give us a clear sense that to educate or to teach is never a thing or a state. It always a process that involves a nurturer, a trainer, a leader – that is a teacher. Teachers are therefore the primary agents of the educational process. As teachers we always bring certain assumptions, whether consciously or unconsciously to our leadership. The most significant of these is the assumption of a relationship to the children. But you might ask, how would we look at this perceived assumption? Is this a relationship of control? Of condescending goodwill? Of…love?

         In every classroom, the children as learners should have an exhilarating, marvelous, and life-changing experience. I believe that if we teachers do our jobs right and, our children will master wondrous information that they have never dreamed of. Surely, they will further enhance skills which they already have and will surely discover talents which they did not know they have. Maybe, we can provide an avenue for them to wrestle with devils and with angels, and for them to find for themselves discerning their vocations in life. The most rewarding of them all for us teachers is that we can be part of it all, and see these children grow not only in stature and but most importantly in knowledge and wisdom. And if we approach our teaching in this comprehensive manner, then we, too, can continue to have marvelous, life-changing, and exhilarating experiences.

Teacher and Society

The Teacher is a maker of man and history.
Both teacher and God are standing before me, but I don’t know, whom to bow first. I will bow to you my teacher, who has guided me to God. Teachers are literally the arbiters of a nation’s destiny - Dr. Zakir Hussain

The teacher indeed has an important role in the progress and welfare of a society. We can say that teacher is considered the yardstick which measures the achievement and aspiration of the nation. So, is it the burden of a teacher to do so?  Why?

As a tradition, our school classrooms are controlled by teachers. Because of this, children are always exposed to the influence of the teacher. It seems then that the teacher plays the most dominant role in molding and shaping the attitudes, habits, manners and above all, the character and personality of the young students. Although home is where molding and disciplining of the children start, we cannot deny the fact some parents are leaving everything to the schools.  Thus, we can say that the progress of the nation and of mankind depends to a large on the teachers. The teachers occupy an important place in the society as an architect of our future generation. 

As a teacher, your duty is not limited inside the classroom only. You owe a duty to the society and the nation. As a classroom teacher, you can help the society in achieving an all-round development by acting as a powerful agency in transmitting the cherished values of our culture to the future generation.

Blessed are the Teachers

“Blessed are the pure in heart… blessed are the merciful… blessed are the meek” and we know what comes next to these phrases. And what comes next are the promises… “They shall see God… they shall obtain mercy… they shall inherit the earth.” These are just few of the teaching of Jesus summarized in the Sermon on the Mount. What if we say, “Blessed are the teachers…”? What phrase could you add? 

In the New Testament Scripture, Jesus did not intend this sermon to teachers of today. This was taught by Jesus as recorded by Matthew in the context where teachers were not yet considered a profession – at least just like today. However, I believe that the Beatitudes can speak very intimately to the teachers of the present days. I also believe that the typical teachers today are not like celebrities or social stars. More often than not, teachers do not have the means to do social climbing. Yes, it is true that teachers earn some money from their meager wage just enough and sometimes the hard earned money could hardly be stretched out until the next payday. When special occasions like Christmas or birthdays in the family come, there is the inevitable hustling for resources to acquire extras in life that make the special day memorable. But it is worst when there is serious sickness – like when a mother suffers a cancer or when a child needs of medicine and in hard times like these.

Thisblogis a collection of thoughts about teaching as a profession and as a vocation. This hopes to give us insights and a better understanding and appreciation about the noblest of all professions - teaching.