Tardy Blogging about Worthy Teaching

Worthy Teaching
A worthy teacher has a heart on fire for the adventure of learning, a deep and integrated knowledge of the subject matter being taught, and sensitivity to the various differing needs and desires of the learners she will teach. She does not fear the unknown but ventures there courageously. When she stumbles upon something unfamiliar and unknown she has the humility to scratch her head with a look of puzzlement and admit to the class that this is new territory. She does not pridefully cling to some sort of authority but takes her students by the hand and journeys together in the relational process of discovery and learning.

And yet a worthy teacher also recognizes the irreducible particularity of each person's teaching style; she knows that teachers teach who they are. A worthy teacher admits she has a lens- a worldview by which she sees things. While she tries to stretch her view and look through different lenses she never presumes to have a god's-eye-view of everything objectively. Thus again a teacher is humble in her collegial relationships. She cannot but teach from within her own skin and assumptions but this does not mean that she is closed off to the different strengths and giftings of other teachers. A worthy teacher knows she has blind spots and welcomes the input and help offered by her community of colleagues.

A worthy teacher never forgets what an honour and privilege it is to be able to teach.
She shows due reverence for the students who have come to her in the vulnerability of trust. She ceaselessly questions herself when a student is not succeeding: she examines her biases, her feelings, her methods of teaching, her care for the struggling student. A worthy teacher has the wisdom to know that fairness is not everyone getting the same thing but everyone getting what they need. A worthy teacher knows that the world is not fair and there are limits to her own abilities and resources, so she courageously devotes more time and energy to those students who are struggling than those students excelling. She recognizes that teaching is not so much an act of information-transfer as it is a means of loving care and nurturing a growing person. A worthy teacher always strives to care for each unique student as her own child. She berates herself if she plays favourites, and remembers that there is always a place for every person in this world, even the ones for whom she does not easily feel affection. She takes responsibility for making space for the unique and divine presence of every little child in her class. She cares for the whole classroom as a communal entity made up of unique persons. She strives for justice and looks out for the weak and those who are shuffled to the edges by social dynamics. She always tries to invite them back in to the centre. While showing no tolerance for ongoing unkindness or bullying, she is merciful toward those students who act out in mean ways toward a peer. She seeks to correct them gently and help them develop intrinsic empathy and caring inclusion for 'the other' they fear or dislike.

A worthy teacher is all of these things and so much more, because she never believes she has "made it" as a teacher. She is always growing and striving to become a worthy teacher. Her sense of pride and self-worth does not come from comparing herself with others or patting herself on the back for recognized successes, it comes from a deep-down-intention to do all she can altruistically for her students. Therefore a teacher's sense of self-worth is unshakable by the inevitable failures and disappointments in her job. She will understand these as opportunities to learn and grow and develop, and she will give thanks for them.
Worthy teaching is not a destination but a life-long journey.

-Mark Northey

[A note on gendered language: I enjoy the cadence of language too much to write "him or her" etc. everytime. Instead I choose to stick with one gendered pronoun as representative of both genders. This pronoun remains the same within a piece but I will alternate between male and female in different pieces of writing. That's as much as I can do to remain inclusive with my language and still not destroy the poetic fluidity of language!]