A Teacher’s Zeal
The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The education system in America has grown to violate human rights, therefore, my engagement in education is not merely to fulfill a zeal to teach, but to also bring an illuminating justice with eternal consequences. Much reform is now required, and I was born for a time like this. A titanic reform higher up must take place immediately and permanently, until this happens education will forever be a dizzying, obscure maze to students. While I do not want to incite a philosophical debate about the cause of this burdensome ignorance, nor do I wish to divulge a flowery, idealistic solution I am compelled to shine light on the culprit of this illusional progress. Our culture has morphed into a greedy, consumeristic, and individualistic society. We value perfection and instantaneous results, these seeds, or should I say weeds, produce impatience. Therefore, the skill of thinking, has become inconvenient, futile, and unnecessary in the 21st century. (Thinking requires patience, community, and voluminous learning.) The original notion of education which has been rooted in holistic and communal and introspective teachings has been abruptly uprooted and has evolved to survive by a syncretistic gumbo of rigidity, an anxiety of grades, and indolence. Time will not permit any further expostulation. I hope to draw a deep chasm between my idea of education, without berating or condescending those who sacrificed themselves for my opportunities.
I believe the Socratic method of teaching is the best way to learn. As bell hooks a renown, feminist educator teaches, “Conversation is the best form of teaching.” I have learned that the education experience must be flexible, because by its nature conversation is capricious. The teacher must be as fluid as water. If a curriculum is forced upon students to learn said principles in two weeks, what happens when students have not mastered the said topic? Do we move on and disregard the spirit of the No Child Left Behind Law created in 2001? To have this law move from theory to practice, then it is my responsibility to ensure my students can articulate thoughtfully and not merely regurgitate information. In this sense, the education requires relativity to the students. The axiom of teaching is to never assume! I refuse to assume my students know anything, irrespective of the factors that force me to prejudge— conversation, however, unveils their knowledge or ignorance. My desire for durable growth starts in how I deliver the information, a cold and immutable and antiquated curriculum is counterproductive to genuine education.
Secondly, teachers must not forget that our students are humans. Teachers who forget this principle commit the unforgivable sin. Students are not robots needing a charge like iPhones or programming like software. Since this is true, how can true education ever take place void of sincere, intimate relationship? As a teacher, it is imperative that I verbally encourage my students and disarm them of any fears they may have about my person. In this moment, I take off my teacher hat, and put on the hat of counselor and friend. I do not hide my ignorance from my students, nor do I patronize them with my superior knowledge or authority. I remind students that I too, am a student and they are my teachers. I believe teachers misconstrue this point and enter spaces with authority and turn children off to learning because of their inability to form relationships. Students invite me into their environment, therefore, it is their classroom not mine. I’ll never understand how it functions nor will learning take place if I ignore this principle. Students learn best from what they see, and I model the vulnerability which I know is conducive to healthy relationships. In time, like the sprouting flower, the leaves of their hearts, emotions, and desires open to the Sun of my face. This allows me to teach both their minds and souls. Relationship is the catalyst to teaching, my love for my students feeds this desire.
Words do not suffice what education, learning, and teaching mean to me. I believe learning is a slow, exhaustive process. One that must possess the patience exhibited in nature. Have you noticed that trees are never in a rush to grow? Yet, everything is always accomplished and very beautifully might I add. I lose rest over the tantamount ignorance in our society, and only death will keep me from this work. I hope the brief rhetoric of my heart is understood. Questions are always welcomed.
“We may all agree that the system is broken. But that mere agreement does not insure that that which is broken will indeed be fixed.”
