How teaching taught me to be a better person
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When I was eighteen, barely out of high school myself, a teacher from my old school reached out to me with a job offer.
She wrote to me saying she wanted me to help certain students with their academic work during class times. I would become an integration aide without any training, except for my own schooling.
I worked with boys who had a range of diagnosed medical and mental health issues that lead to disruptions to their learning. From generalised learning disorders to ADHD, each class I learned more about the disorders, and the people behind the disorders.
I started to listen to personal concerns that were worded so carefully that they would only peep out from underneath the surface. I learned very quickly to read between the lines.
Day after day, I’d hear the phrase: “I can’t do it”
Day after day, I’d say back: “That’s ok, we can do it together”
Initially, in my naïveté, I would think that an “I can’t do it” was a statement of giving up because the work was too hard — at the time, I thought it was an: I don’t know how, so I can’t do it by myself.
It would be kind of an easy answer to all our issues, if that were the case: if a lack of motivation stemmed from a lack of knowledge.
That was my simplistic image of teaching: show them what they don’t know, and they can figure the rest out with that nugget of knowledge.
I had no idea self-esteem was a part of learning.
Suddenly, at the ripe old age of eighteen, I’d had a huge revelation that changed my life: I’m so lucky this system works for me, and I’m lucky I’ve been encouraged the way I have — so that this system can work for me.
Since I clicked to this realisation, I’ve put encouragement before wisdom each time I talk to any student. And I’ve been bringing this everywhere I go — from aiding in a high school classroom, to early childhood education, even to elementary level after school care.
Recognising talent, effort, and potential in every single student is going to make all of our students so much more willing to learn and grow than simply saying “one plus one is two.”
The next natural step was to take this idea out of the classroom. To encourage and inspire friends. To encourage and inspire myself.
They say that only the rich get richer; but I say we’re all rich in some kind of talent. Even those amongst us who have never been praised for their talents before. So with the right help and the right attitude, why can’t we all get richer?