Daniel Shiro –
First of all, let me apologise for the rather grim title. I could not find softer words and, to be honest, I don’t even think I should.
We all know and agree that teachers have the power to help learners achieve their goals and their dreams –and it can make us feel on the top of the world, as if we were possible of achieving anything, just like super-heroes straight out of blockbusters. However, it is also true that – more often than any of us will admit – it can inflate our egos.
The root of the problem might be that teachers are often seen as those who are not allowed to make mistakes, therefore need to be perfect. This makes us impersonate characters who are infallible and we are often unwary to the consequence: if you pretend hard enough and for long enough that you know everything and that your lessons are perfect, you may end up convincing yourself that you are good, even when evidence shows otherwise.
Dealing with our egos has never been and will never be easy. There are abundant examples of teachers who have not taken any courses or done anything to develop their skills further for years and even decades. Some may say they haven’t had the opportunity, but many will believe they know more than enough and feel they do not need to develop anymore. Let me then pose you the following questions:
What would you think of a doctor who has not been up-to-date with new trends in medicine for the past 15, 20 years? Why would it be acceptable for a teacher to do that?
The moment you as a teacher stop to reflect on your career and your attitude towards learning and you delve deeper into your motivations to have chosen a career in teaching, you might find something ugly, something unpleasant, a feeling that you should not be teaching at all, or that you are teaching for all the wrong reasons. At this point, some would leave the profession while some would try to sweep all these unsettling thoughts under the rug and pretend nothing ever happened. Only the brave will look for a way to change but only those who take action WILL actually become better teachers.
The first step is to accept that the learners need to take central role in their learning, they must be the centre of attention, the main characters of their learning journey with the teacher taking a supporting role. Think of Mr. Miyagi guiding Daniel through a journey of self-discovery: the old man is not the main character and he’s not a hero. He’s the mentor who is humble and only intervenes when the student is in trouble.
I speak from experience when I say the moment I felt I needed to find all I could about teaching and decided to help other teachers was when I felt I set out in my path to becoming a better teacher and, hopefully, a better person. For that to happen, I had to look hard and deep into what drives and motivates me as a teacher. I must confess that it wasn’t an easy process, but it was essential. I challenge every teacher to go through this reflection process and come out unchanged.
To conclude, you may completely agree or disagree with me on anything I have just mentioned, but my aim was to provoke you and make you stop to reflect on how you deal with your ego and your teaching skills. And since you have already read so far, how about taking action and letting me know how you feel by commenting at www.facebook.com/optimalanguages or by sending me an e-mail to daniel@optimalanguages.com ?
Until next time!
