This year’s ‘World Teachers’ Day’ theme is ‘Teachers at the Heart of Education Recovery’.
‘A good teacher is like a candle – it consumes itself to light the way for others. A great teacher also prepares the next great teacher.
The question is: What Am I Passing on to the Next Generation?
What are we leaving them as a tribute to the years that we have spent here on earth?
The success of our next generation, whether it be our family, our community or our nation, depends on how faithfully we teach and train others with the truths that they passionately, devotedly teach others. The older generation of today needs to know exactly how things are to be in the world in order to pass that information on to the next generation. With the passing of each generation, knowledge and values are handed down from the older to the younger. Our morality, our values, our character, our attitude and our integrity is our success.
“Attitude” is one of the most important words in any language. It applies to every sphere of life, including one’s personal and professional life.
Can a teacher be a good teacher without a good attitude? Can a leader be a good leader without a good attitude? Can a student be a good student without a good attitude? Can a parent, owner, salesman, employer, employee be good in their roles without a good attitude?
The foundation of success regardless of our chosen field is our attitude. Teaching the attitude to the students is very important for us.
What are the qualities that make an educational institution, or a teacher stand out among others? How do students learn to appreciate education? How can a student develop his knowledge, skill, attitude and aptitude to the full potential? No one has yet fully realized the wealth of capacity hidden in the soul of a child. Therefore, the effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure.
The human soul is like a seed, which has all the potential to become a fruitful tree. No farmer needs to give any information to a seed about how to become a tree. The only thing a farmer can do is to create the right environment and provide the right enhancement, so that the seed can safely grow and become a fully mature and fruitful tree.
Similarly, the role of a teacher is to create the right environment and give the right encouragement, confidence, inspiration and appreciation to their students, so that they are able to discover their true potential and become themselves.
Each and every person is born with a particular purpose and gifts from our creator and those specific qualities need to be identified, nurtured and refined; whereas, our society and education system almost ignores the purpose of each individual and cancels their specific gifts and qualities.
What education is determined to achieve is to fill the minds of children with the right information. Thus, teaching becomes much more challenging and important than learning. A strong, moral, refined and disciplined mentor or teacher is the safeguard to a nation’s life and future.
What is true education? Intellectual education influences the head and values-based education influences the heart. In fact, education that does not train the heart can be dangerous.
If we want to build character in our schools, offices, homes and society, we must teach the truth, values and ethics. Education that builds fundamental traits of character such as righteousness, integrity, honesty, compassion, courage, persistence and accountability is absolutely essential.
One of the problems with our society today is: A cook wants to be an artist. An artist wants to be at the front line of battle. Artillery soldiers want to serve as medics. A rider wants to be a walker. A walker wants to be a rider. All I’m trying to say is: yes, we all have the same gear as soldiers in the army, but we don’t perform the same job!
Nowadays, children don’t want to learn about pain, struggle, journey or hardship. They want everything very easily. We need to help them understand that you are not alone in your struggles. You are not alone in your troubles. You’re not the only person who’s ever been laid off. You’re not the only person to lose friends for no reason. You’re not the only person to have been lied to. You’re not the only person to have been talked about.
We also need to help them understand that there is someone who cares for you, who understands you, who protects you, who guides you, who strengthens you.
A story is told of a small study group, one lady decided that she would visit a silversmith and report to them on what he said about the subject. When she went she did not tell the silversmith why she was inquiring as she begged him to tell her about the process of refining silver. After he had fully described it to her, she asked, “But, sir, do you actually sit there the entire time while refining is going on?” The silversmith quickly responded, “Oh, yes ma’am, I must sit with my eyes steadily fixed on the furnace, for if the time necessary for refining be exceeded in the slightest degree, the silver will be injured.”
Before she left, the lady asked one final question, “How do you know when the process is complete?” “Why, that’s quite simple,” replied the silversmith. “When I can see my own image in the silver, the refining process is finished.”
A great teacher sees it necessary to put his children into a furnace; and she/he will not let his/her children be tested beyond what we can endure.
THE INFLUENCE OF A GOOD TEACHER CAN NEVER BE ERASED.
