World Teachers' Day
Today, October 5th, is #WorldTeachersDay and my mind goes into reflection, particularly after my last post on teaching and AI.
What's a teacher today? Let me count the ways...
A teacher is a person who keeps exercising the learning part of their brain, sometimes alone, most of the time in front of other people, incidentally called students.
But not only that.
Teaching activity also occurs in leadership, in mentoring, and in casual talks with a dear friend. Perhaps teaching is staged in more contexts than those delineated by classroom walls or virtual meeting screen frames.
When my highly reflective corporate students give me the gift of their time in my one-to-one lessons, I wonder whether they ever realise how much I learn from them.
Mind you, I am the one who gets paid a professional fee for that!
The nature of teaching surpasses direction; it is a two-way street. Actually, I am a firm believer that for learning to occur, two people must be learning—probably different things— at the same time. In my own glossary, the componential analysis of the term "teaching or learning" includes two variables combined: same place, same time. Therefore, learning entails togetherness and also—if I may dare say so— vulnerability.
The nature of teaching surpasses direction; it is a two-way street. Actually, I am a firm believer that for learning to occur, two people must be learning—probably different things— at the same time. In my own glossary, the componential analysis of the term "teaching or learning" includes two variables combined: same place, same time. Therefore, learning entails togetherness and also—if I may dare say so— vulnerability.
Teaching, the way I experience it, occurs not in a classroom, but in a third place. A zone free of rigid roles or overly elaborated, pre-prepared teaching plans, which are bound to honour most the classroom walls than the persons inside them.
Who am I as a teacher?
Mostly a learner. Perhaps a multicultural bridge builder between diverse thought frames.
Devoid of rigid plans, I listen to my students. A lot.
My secret tool for the job?
I simply do not see any walls.
Labels: worldteachersday
