My favorite teachers are tour guides

Shannon Baldwin
Jul 23, 2017 · 2 min read

I’ve had a few teachers in my life who stand out, and relatively few of them have done that standing in front of a classroom. And even the classroom teachers I remember fondly were not the great lecturers or the ones skilled at structuring a lesson just so. They were not deliverers of content so much as they were tour guides: people deeply invested in and enthusiastic about their subjects and delighted to have you along for the adventure. They did not pin you down and pour out knowledge, they invited you to walk with them. Those walks changed me.

As education is coming into a renewed conversation surrounding pedagogy, it seems more attention and legitimacy is being given to this process of ‘walking with’ students. In many of the readings, and in several of the lectures in the “What Future for Education” MOOC I am taking, it is apparent that educators are moving beyond the technical and professional aspects of teaching and re exploring the relational aspects of teaching. This, I think, is wonderful. A charismatic, compassionate and wise mentor is ultimately a more dynamic force for change in the life of a student than is a teacher who can structure a brilliant science lesson. On the other hand, though we are glad when a science teacher changes the life of a student through that mentorship, we should also expect that she teach them science as well.

In my reflecting on this question of what makes a good teacher, I find that, personally, I tend toward the relational aspect of teaching and am willing to set academic instruction to the side when necessary to devote time to it. The student’s individual needs will always trump the lesson plan for me. This, likely, has something to do with my natural temperament, but also with the fact that the teachers who changed me were the ones with this philosophy. That being said, in at least one case, though the teacher effectively cared for me as an individual, they failed me in terms of the academics they were meant to be teaching. They did not simply adjust the academic track to mentor me, they dropped it entirely. Despite my love and gratitude toward that teacher, I recognize that this was an imbalance. I’ve even discussed this with some of my former classmates and our conclusion was essentially, “She was amazing, but I kind of wish we’d learned some Spanish in her class, too.”

These reflections have forced me to carefully evaluate my process. How do I strengthen my pedagogy, something I believe is vital, while maintaining balance? My goal is to be the ideal tour guide: inviting, knowledgable, strategic, and connected.