The Value of a Teacher

Original article written by Sherrie Hatfield

It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.

— Albert Einstein

"I have had many teachers in my lifetime. While we may think of teachers and students in relation to school, I like to think of my parents as being my first teachers. We are all born with innate instincts that no one can teach us; we know to cry when we are hungry or in pain, to laugh when we feel joy, to turn over, crawl, walk, and run. What my parents did teach me was how to use my instincts to create my life, and they provided me a safe environment with which to do so.

When I began school, I found another type of teacher and became a different type of student. In the beginning, my schoolteachers made learning fun; they challenged and encouraged me, allowed me to explore what I was capable of, to push beyond my limitations. I loved my teachers and loved learning so much that my favorite game to play with my younger sisters was “school”. Of course, I was always the teacher!

In later years, I became aware that not all teachers were the same. I learned that many teachers were more concerned with grades and performance, with being the best and the fittest. In those later years of my education, the joy of learning was lost as I was simply fed information to memorize by teachers who did not see me as an individual but simply another student. I no longer saw my teachers as people, either; my respect for them had started to fade.

I left school at the end of my 11th year; the joy of learning had been lost. I entered the workforce and found, in my colleagues, yet a new kind of teacher. Here, I was able to choose my teachers and my fields of interest; I felt as if I was free to learn once again. From these teachers, I learned how to apply my knowledge and skills, how to interact with and manage the people around me. While I could not name it at the time, those who I chose as my teachers not only had knowledge and information, they applied it in everyday life. They walked the walk and talked the talk and lived what they knew.

 When I began my journey of self-discovery in order to enhance my personal relationships, understand family dynamics, and gain a greater sense of self, as well as become the best child care teacher I could, I met a teacher with whom I spent 15 years, first as a student and then as a teacher working alongside of her. With this teacher, I studied spiritual and personal development through meditation, opening to psychic and intuitive awareness, exploring diverse philosophies and esoteric beliefs, and engaging with my inner child. I was a full-time student of this teacher for two years before working side by side with her as a teacher. My dedication was so deep that I even lived on the same property with her for years.

During that time, I taught meditation and self-growth, and even taught child-care teachers internationally how to work more openly and effectively with children. I discovered the greatest reward in teaching was to witness the uniqueness, the potential, that lay dormant in each student and help them to give it life, not as the teacher or the world envisioned it should be, but as the student chose..."



Original article: http://www.robertrabbin.com/reading-room/new-article/a.php?article=thevalueofateacher