What Teaching Means To Me
Unkind to be kind, I accept as true, because my schooling days in 1980s had teachers who seemed cruel in words and actions. At times, their ways of handling the students in an intimidating manner put me off my dream to become a teacher. However, there were also times that made me feel that their punishments were out of love and concern in shaping our future and not that of hatred. Now I realize that they have struck the iron when hot like a mother giraffe kicking the steaming baby giraffe as soon as it drops on the ground out of the mother’s womb to make it stand on its feet, so as to survive in the jungle from the watchful predators. And it was how I was prepared for this world of works. What I am today is entirely the make of those brutal teachers whom I used to perceive as such then. Thank you teachers!
Of course, my becoming of a teacher is not by option but by fate. What is fated cannot be blotted, I agree, because after twenty years of service in teaching now, I rarely feel that I have wasted any of my time. I’m in the business of helping kids grow, of nurturing their skills and of creating awareness. I am also in the business of inspiring and caring the teenagers; helping them equip the tools they need to live their lives, and stirring them to become successful and productive citizens of this great nation. What could possibly be more important than these?
Teaching gifted me confidence to approach people and serve them in the most desirable manners. Teaching teaches me to stand firm in all my expressions yet be understanding in altering and accepting the view points of others. It makes me more seeing, more hearing and above all more feeling. It also keeps me motivated to learn as much as I could because learning is discovering a larger world. And as I discover new and larger world I am more resourceful to my students and colleagues. I can help others grow wiser through my discovery of wisdom and lead them into the path of knowledge with pride and confidence as John C.D (1967) rightly says, “Who dares to teach never cease to learn (happy learning, happy teaching).” I can see my mind constantly processing information and figuring out the best way of transferring my knowledge to the students in a way that they see it as applicable to their lives, for the whole path of teaching is learning and life changing.
The teaching profession has certainly become an integral part of my being. Every fiber, thought, and all available energy go into my daily assignment as an educator. Teaching has led me to become a better person, more understanding of differences in people, more tolerant and more empathetic to others. I have probably learned more by teaching my students than I have taught them, and I truly feel blessed to have an enriched life given to me by this profession. I feel excited each morning as I prepare even for the most difficult of days, and at the end of it all, I collapse both mentally and physically exhausted but with a feeling of accomplishment that I did make a difference in a child’s life. Underlying all of this, there is a constant nagging that perhaps I could do more, or for every child I am touching how many am I not making that crucial connection for educational success.
My two decades of teaching experience made me realize that I have taught my whole life each and every day, just different things in different ways. I have also come to realize that teaching means educating oneself, for a teacher has to learn a lot. In fact, I have never needed to learn more than I do now have I not become a teacher and teach day in and day out. Each day, each class, every student with whom I interact, I have the unique opportunity to touch their lives.
When I see my senior students holding important posts all in public, corporate and private sectors, I feel privileged to be in a position of interacting so closely with these talented young people. To this effect, I agree with Forest.E Witcraft (1894-1967) who truly says (excerpt from "Within My Power")- “One hundred years from now, it won’t matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, the kind of car I drove, nor what my clothes looked like, but, the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.” As such, I don’t imagine doing anything else other than teaching. Although I may be economically lower class, I feel I am intellectually and morally upper class, for the reason that I keep on burning and becoming sensible so that my light reaches to all, bright and clear beyond the horizons I can see. More I learn more I become materialistically ignorant.
Teaching gave me an enormous opportunity to be versatile and go into many directions in life. I have been privileged always to work at the schools in different locations across the country, and in different capacities. Teaching gave me prospect to hunt for my potentials and exhibit them competently which otherwise would have gone to ashes with my corpse unidentified and used. Thanks to teaching!!! My initial placement as a teacher at Dungkhar PS, Lhuentse extended for 7 years (1991- 1997). As a headmaster, I was transferred to Tshatse PS, Pema Gatshel for 5 years (1998-2002). My next transfer was as an Assistant District Education Officer (ADEO) to Trashigang Dzongkhag for 3 years (2003-2005). Then I was blessed to have been sent for further studies (M.Ed) in Thailand for 2 years (2006-2007). Currently I am in Pasakha LSS as a Principal serving for 4 years now (from 2008).
All in all, teaching to me, is learning, enriching, exhilarating, motivating, inspiring, energizing, collaborating, growing, sharing, loving, and above all a blessing. Indeed, I’ve already seen the transformational nature of this career. That is why it’s exciting to learn and satisfying to teach. I could still see endless reasons as of why teaching is important. And I am deeply in love with my teaching and I will never part from her till I breathe last.
