I used to get asked, back when I got asked about these things, how I liked being a teacher. I’ve thought of this question off and on since the last time I was asked it – some time ago.
And there was a time when I had a somewhat winsome outlook about it, back when I thought I wasn’t a teacher anymore. And being a writer, I use that word on purpose. It came to me that way because of the quality of that word, the essential nature of it, that word nerds like myself understand.
That quality here is childlike. And that is how I like to look back on it. And rightly so. I was teaching children. Teenage children, which is an odd mixture of snarling tiger, bewildered confusion, and blind optimism. A heady mix. And those are the more or less adjusted ones.
Now add in the really damaged. And that means…many. It is a difficult job. And that is true if you only see it as a job. Every teacher I came across during the short time I did this job did not see it only as a job.
It is a calling. Like the priesthood. Or caring for the terminally ill. Or anything where the point is not yourself. Any job can fit this category if you find a way to see it in this light. Any job. And the reason why is because you know the point is larger than yourself. It is not for me to say what those things are.
It is yours.
Kurt Vonnegut said there was no more noble job in a democracy than that of a teacher. Now, he used to teach, so we have to give a nod and a wink to the fact he might have been being a little cheeky. I don’t think so though, because he used to teach.
I have had many teachers in my life.
Damn good teachers.
Each had their own lessons to give.
It was the damn good ones that helped me decide to pursue that path. And the qualities of the extra damn special ones really stand out.
It is summed up in a warmth of spirit, a twinkle in the eye that said, “Wanna see something cool?” A willingness to make fun of themselves and you too but in a way that you could feel had no malice in it.
We all know it when we feel it. Don Rickles made a career of it. People paid for the experience. Because they knew there was no malice in it – well as much as any humor is free of malice – Mel Brooks said, comedy is when a man walks over an open manhole cover and dies, tragedy is when I have a hangnail.
The teachers with humor were the absolute best. And those were a real rarity. But the ability to be funny isn’t necessary to be a teacher. It doesn’t take much. Just everything. All your attention, all your skill, all your everything that makes you…you.
And every teacher I’ve known does this. It is an impossible task. Sooner or later, meaning often, they stumble and pick themselves up and try again. And they do it because they must. Because it is a calling.
All my favorite teachers gave me permission to give candid responses and I was careful not to disrespect them on purpose because I liked them so very much. These teachers always loved me right back. And when that happened, I blossomed. And when they saw that, I could see they were well pleased with their calling.
All my favorite teachers showed me respect and an honest consideration for my ideas, no matter how outlandish they might at first appear. They were experts at hiding what they knew. They were experts at providing a space where everyone felt comfortable and free to express themselves without fear of reprisal.
Unless rules were broken. Most students know what the rules are. Students who are eager to please are an expert at the rules. You have to watch out for those too! They are the dangerous ones. They are the ones who become lawyers.
Or teachers.
All my favorite teachers had a special quality that was unique to themselves and therefore inexpressible. They had a knack for making the student rise. Rise to above what they even thought they were capable of.
And we are all teachers. All of us. And we are all students. All of us. We give lessons without knowing and learn them the same way. We all have the ability to help each other rise! Seeing this is hard. It takes real effort. And life is hard enough as it is without someone coming along saying you are doing it wrong.
All my favorite teachers never put it that way.
And I will do my best not to do it either.
