A Quote
The more I am open to the realities in me and in the other person, the less I fiind myself wishing to rush in to “fix things.” … I become less and less inclined to hurry in to fix things, to set goals, to mould people, to manipulate and push them in the way that I would like them to go. I am much more content simply to be myself and to let another person be himself. I know very well that this must seem like a strange … point of view. What is life for if we are not going to do things to people? What is life for if we are not going to mould them to our purposes? What is life for if we are not going to teach them the things that we think they should learn? What is life for if we are not going to make them think and feel as we do?
Source: Carl Rogers, On Becoming a Person, p.21-22.
A Thought
Is it possible to educate without being open to the realities of each child?
You see, I think that educating and teaching aren’t exactly the same thing.
A wonderful thing happens when a teacher opens themselves to the realities of their students: they start to see them in technicolour. I’ve experienced this myself. I’ve seen it happen to other teachers.
And the result is, you become intuitively responsive to the kids; your teaching becomes attuned possibility and highly personal. And a thought creeps in that teaching doesn’t feel like quite the right word to describe what you’re doing.
I know for me, it just felt like I was helping people I liked work on things that were important to them.
Have you felt this too?
An Action
Reflect
What realities exist in you that drive your teaching?
How are they impacting the way you see the young people you are charged with helping to learn?
Is this what you dreamed of when you decided to become a teacher?