A lesson worth teaching
This is what teaching has taught me
Some say I have the easiest job in the world. Sure I need to be well prepared, well informed, and alert at all times; but who doesn’t? My working hours are fantastic, and I have so many days off I barely know what to do with myself sometimes. Being a woman whose sole aim in life is to have children, I couldn’t ask for a better job. I get to travel during peak season (only), and even get free things; like a laptop and a salary. I sometimes worry about my sanity and overall well-being, but other than that, I can’t complain (or mustn’t, anyway — everyone seems to want my job, and I’m lucky enough to have it).
Yet if everyone wants it, why isn’t everyone doing it? With a degree and a clean conduct certificate, you can probably be “really lucky”, too. To think — some of these lucky ones even have the audacity to claim to be depressed nine out of twelve months! Thankfully, considering I didn’t base my career choice on my time off work, I’ve managed to avert that problem. Many others have. Still everywhere I turn, I see people who, in my humble (yet correct) opinion, are not fit to do their job — either due to their attitude or mentality. I see colleagues whose passion has died out; who are stuck in a rut by constantly working against the grain in a system which has made us and failed us. Was I naïve in thinking I could inspire change within this system?
As much as I love teaching, it saddens me to think so much potential is being wasted on learning things that don’t matter. We speak of the importance of creativity and of recognizing multiple intelligences. We speak of inclusion, yet exclude people within the classroom. We waste time and resources drawing up theories that are readily dismissed the minute we enter a school. We implement new pedagogies which are then assessed by a standard exam. We allow subjects to take precedence over others and limit creativity to an after school activity. The latter can now be acknowledged in a school leaving certificate. We call this incentive.
It doesn’t take much to realise we’re doing it all wrong. “But you know how our students are. They don’t want to learn. So if at least one of them learns something, you’ve done your job.” Erm. No, I haven’t. I might have planned and executed the perfect lesson, but that doesn’t change the fact that the other 24 learned absolutely nothing from it. Then again, there’s always the internet.
If we’re honest, is school really what we owe our education to? Statistics speak for themselves. Unfortunately, half the people with a degree can’t even do that. Think of the most valid lesson you’ve ever learned, then think about how you learned it. We teach and learn from others all the time. Does that mean the classroom is the only thing that sets you and I apart? Probably not. But you certainly don’t have to be a teacher to teach, and that is the problem with teaching. Everyone can do it, but not everyone can do it well.
What makes a good teacher, then? Is it knowledge, experience, vision, patience, charisma, discipline, enthusiasm or excellent voice projection? A good teacher probably has all these, but a great teacher should be exemplary. By instilling a healthy attitude towards education, teachers can enable students to decide what they feel is worth knowing. Great teachers should never limit themselves to the classroom. They should teach things worth learning, and learn things worth teaching.
