Teacher Teacher

Teachers are one of the most primary profession in life. In many cultures, teachers are held in high esteem, while many considered teachers to be ranked next to parents in respect. They were respectable people in society. Knowledgable and well educated, they were often consulted by families and friends. The noble function of a teacher and his passion to educate became a factor for his income. However, there's always the good teacher & the bad teacher. What makes a good teacher & what makes a bad one?

Nowadays, there are instituitions that are specialised in training students into becoming a teacher. A good teacher. They are trained in how to, in detailed formulae, bring the education across the classroom to the learner. The methods & syllabus are concise & kept relevant. These instituitions provide the would be teachers the necessary skills to become an educator. A decent Teacher. Not yet a good teacher. Again, what then makes a good teacher?

To begin with, I am not a highly educated person. My academic achievements spanned only in vocational training. My 'O' level results seemed to judge me in that manner and apparently, so does the society. I am going to say it; I'm a victim of a sucky education system full of bad teachers. And no, I'm not kidding.

I wish I could say that I am a slow learner but I'm not. I wish I could say that I am not academically inclined but that does not seem to be the case. Why do I say these things? Not meaning to be boastful or conceited, but, I discovered that I learn better off on my own. The teachers I had sucked big time with the exception of a few. Or I am just being sour grapes. Nah, that's not it. It's just that my brain is working on a hyperdrive. Constantly working on processing information & at the same time coping with my wild imagination.

Let me illustrate. Have you ever experienced people talking to you but your mind just drifts off thinking about other things. You appear to be listening but in reality you are not. For me, this situation happens constantly throughout my consciousness. Except that I am listening to whoever's talking to me & understanding him/her but at the back of my head, I am in reality absorbing information from elsewhere, perhaps a previous conversation with someone else. And if the person talking to me asks me a question in regards to whatever he's talking about, I can answer him perfectly. A minute later, if he asks me the same question, I am totally incapable of giving him the answer that I gave him previously. It'd take time, like a day or two, when my brain finally absorbs the information. Currently, the only thing I could think of would be the things that I might have read recently or other things unrelated to the conversation.

Some people would think that it's just because I'm incredibly dense. Or that person may be boring me to death! A crucial quality that a good teacher should have is the ability to grasp the attention of the student. And when he goes trailing off, the teacher has got to be aware of it. He has to be able to deliver what he's teaching otherwise he fails his objective.

The teacher needs to exercise his wisdom over his students so that they'll learn their lessons well and respect him. A good teacher shall realize that his student is struggling trying to understand and learn. The good teacher makes effort to help him understand and the rest of the students will only understand better.

The good teacher chooses his students well and shall know why he chooses them. He chooses them not in the favour above the rest but because he identifies the students' potential, and at his own risk, put faith in them.

I am neither a teacher nor a good student. Poor is the student that did not surpass the teacher. True. But, how can a poor student like me excel when the teacher have no faith in me? Penalise me for the fault of others? Failed to explain me the knowledge he was supposed to pass on and did not answer the questions I have because I wanted to learn, because I am the poor student. Poor is the student that did not surpass the teacher. There's another saying that goes Poor students are borne of Poorer Teachers.

I learnt the teacher/student well because my father taught me those sayings. He taught me with his wisdom. He taught me not to learn of things I do not understand and until I have those understanding I am not ready. He taught me not to give up on myself because I'm a poor student, for I am a better Teacher than the teacher for he never saw my wisdom in asking him questions that he fails to answer. My father taught me all that because he was a good father and he was and still my Good Teacher.