teachers you've ever had. What were they like? How the room feel when they were teaching? How did they talk to their students? What was it about them that made them great?
Year 11 English. The we teacher got for the class had a reputation for having an intimidating aura. He was a former AFL (Australian Rules Football) player so he was a tall, tough and disciplined kind of guy. On the first day of class he told us and said:
"If you could take one thing away from these two years, take away the ability to be discerning and careful of the world around you."
his words have stuck with me ever since. I like to believe that he was a man that understood the fact that literature was always meant to be a guide - a guide to understand and to think independently about the world around us. Perhaps he could've taught us even more if didn't have his tied behind his back with BS curriculums made by people who never taught a day in their lives.
Year 11 Chemistry. We were a class of 25 or so students. My teacher was new to the school, none of us knew her. When she first came in the classroom she introduced herself not like a teacher but as a person - she talked about her hobbies, she took an interest in us and she explained her motivations for becoming a teacher, it went something like this:
"I once had a teacher in high-school, the best teacher I've ever had. I thought she was the coolest person in the world and If someone could be like that to be maybe I could be like that to someone else."
The only reason I'm writing this right now is because of her.
Year 11 Physics. I don't have many great quotes from my physics teacher but he was great in his own right. When we had the chance to do some hands on activities he always let us goof with the around after we completed our tasks. He'd talk us about new developments in physics, he would spend time showing us some interesting YouTube videos or...basketball highlights. He was really the guy that got me interested in science and engineering.
As you can see, my greatest teachers we're most importantly genuine, honest people - they spent time to talk about their interests and hobbies; they had that energy when they taught the class; they would start conversations when they saw you outside of class; they were easy to talk to because they didn't feel like figures of authority. In other words, they had an actual human relationship with their students. They saw the bigger picture in their role as a teacher - it wasn't to pass exams or write the best essays - it was to get students excited about learning.
Only when I graduated did I realise how lucky I was to have such decent teachers... decent people.
The three teachers I mentioned were far from the norm. They were by far the minority when it came to teachers. Most of the fuckers that taught me did not give a fuck your curiosity, all they did was play favourites and sucked up to people above them and I honestly can't blame them. When the people at the top of the food chain are stagnant zombies stuck in 1890s it's only natural that people would try and play the system. Acting all authoritative and shit when their superiors were around acting like they have lightning-bolts that shoot from their finger-tips in the classroom, yelling at the slighted annoyance. Who the fuck do you think you are? Acting like your top shit when you're with 15-year-olds. The funny thing is that often times that those teachers are the ones that instantly fold the moment parents get involved.
Many of these teachers I've talked to outside of the school environment
"Teaching means openness and honesty, an ability to share excitement and the love of learning. Without these, all the education degrees in the world won't help you, and with them they are completely unnecessary.
It's perfectly simple. Students are not aliens. They respond to beauty and pattern, and are naturally curious like anyone else. Just talk to them! And more importantly, listen to them!" - Paul Lockhart, The Mathematician's Lament.
Teachers have an immense responsibility in this world. Their influence on the minds of young people is second to no one, not even their parents (in most families I'd argue). The greatest teachers are never forgotten - ask any person and they'll be able to tell you all about their teachers regardless of if they're 20, 40, 60, 70.
Challenge 1 - Coming up with a way to to find teachers that actually want to teach.
