Education
The Best Teachers Will Always Do This One Thing
Upon reading an article from Love, Anna, I was inspired to write this. Her story highlighted one of the major problems she sees in teachers. You can find her article below.
I would advise giving it a read as she highlights some points that could improve the way teachers approach their lessons.
I have not identified one skill all teachers lack, but I do think I have identified one thing all good teachers have. And by good, I mean the teachers that have left a lasting effect on my life. These are the type of teachers you will never forget, and I will always bring up.
Unfortunately, they are not easy to find. I guess they would not be the best if everyone could do what they did. There is a multitude of things that makes a teacher memorable, but I do think all teachers can develop one thing. That one thing is deliberately showing passion.
Now before you run off and say you have heard it all before, hear me out for a minute. I would argue that most teachers who stay teachers clearly have passion for the role. Many of them are overworked, underpaid and quite frankly could be doing something else if they wanted to.
One of my favourite teachers put it this way when he was frustrated with the class for not listening.
“You students do not understand. If I did not want to be here, I wouldn’t be. I have a masters in Economics, and my father runs a multi-million-pound private equity firm. I could very easily leave this current role and earn millions elsewhere.”
He grabbed all of our attention because he revealed to us something none of us ever thought about. And that was that teachers are teachers because they want to be, not because they have to be. When you say to a teacher be passionate about your job, you are saying nothing useful.
The odds are, the reason why they put up with badly behaved kids and terribly run schools is passion. However, not every teacher deliberately shows this passion in every lesson.
Even when my best teachers were tired after a long day, they deliberately showed passion. And it was not about the energy in their voice or the animations on their slides. It was a combination of repeated actions in every lesson.
These three actions are the things that my best teachers did to show passion in each lesson. You may be tired after a long day or frustrated at a class, but it does not matter. You can begin implementing these things to leave a lasting effect on your students.
Going Beyond the Scope of Learning
My physics teachers most used line was,
“This is not in the spec, but…”
He was always finding ways to go beyond our scope of learning in every lesson. Whether that was saying a fact about Einstein or telling us about the things university students do. It was always a pleasure to hear more things.
Going beyond the scope of learning is something all my best teachers did. And it was part of their way of deliberately showing their passion for their subject. It told me as a student that they could not help themselves but go past what they are required to teach.
There were some lessons where I was tired, and I did not want to hear more about atoms. But even in these moments, I could appreciate that my physics teacher showed us how passionate he was.
It is easy to plan to put something a little extra in your lesson. And if you are passionate about teaching, you will find the time to do it. The good thing about these teachers is that they did it naturally. Some of the extra stuff they put in was planned, but for the most part, they let it flow.
And that only solidified my understanding of how passionate they were.
Telling Stories About Their Student Experience
Here is where Anna and I both strongly agree on being personal. It was common for my economics teacher to speak about his student his experience. Through the power of storytelling, he would both inspire us and show his passion for the world of education.
I will never forget the story he told us about failing all his economics exams and having to resit. He told this story at the perfect time as we were entering the exam period. He let us know that we were all better economist than he was at our age, and he knew that we would all do well.
He would often mention the university lecturer that encouraged him to go into the world of teaching. And all of the other mentors he had in his life that helped him along the way.
These short stories let us know that he was passionate about his job and impacting our lives. With the power of storytelling in almost every lesson, he left us with several stories to tell our peers about him. But most importantly, he demonstrated his passion for teaching and economics.
Giving Real Life Examples
My statistics teacher never ended a lesson without showing us how we can apply it to our lives. He would constantly summarise with something he or a friend has done with the principle he just taught us.
I remember him telling us about how he became top 20 in the world for a game by using statistics. He showed us the numbers and how he strategised to build up one of the best profiles.
In his last ever lesson, he revealed that he was moving on to start a company based on the principle he just showed us. He had secured an investment of £80,000 to launch his business app to help companies make better decisions.
Through applying everything to his life, he showed us that he was passionate. It appeared that his whole life and successes were down to statistics, which made us listen more.
A Word of Encouragement for Teachers
It is only now I realise that every day teachers show passion for their job. They do not need to be there, and it is a tiring job. So, thank you to all the teachers out there that go above and beyond to build the future generations.
Continue to do all that you do. And when you can, deliberately show passion by implementing the things mentioned in this article.
