The Heart of a Teacher

Parker Palmer develops his book The Courage to Teach based on a premise that good teaching cannot be reduced to technique; good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher. It is also the experience of Palmer who worked many decades in the field of education and I am sure everyone who has worked as teacher or educator accepts this premise. This premise looks simple but not very easy to be lived. One of the disciples of Gautama Buddha asked him a question why is it that some of the disciples get enlightenment and others not. In reply Buddha said to him that those who follow the path that I teach do experience Nirvana but those who just listen and never make attempt to follow the path never reach the goal. It is same with the teaching of Jesus too. Unless we take up our cross and follow Jesus, we cannot reach the kingdom of God. The above examples suggest that I as an educator or teacher need to be open to ongoing change, and make an every attempt to grow in my identity as a total person in integrity. I know it is an ongoing challenge yet it is possible. My thirteen years of formation in the Society of Jesus has brought in me a tremendous growth as a religious and as a person. I believe that God works in my life through various ways, but the journey will continue.
A good teacher’s integrity is shown in joining self, subject and students in the fabric of life. This is true when I recall the lives of great teachers who have come into my life. I do agree with Palmer in his following quotation. the courage to teach is the courage to keep one’s heart open in those very moments when the heart is asked to hold more than it is able to so that teacher and students and subject can be woven into the fabric of community that learning, and living, require. Before coming to Berkeley, I worked for two years as a class teacher and assistant in-charge of a boarding which had about 275 boys. It was indeed a tough job for me as I was just fresh from my philosophical studies. I had to teach in the high school as a regular teacher during the day and rest of the time I had to take care of those boys. It was a 24x7 job. I had to do more than my heart could offer. But on the day of my farewell, I indeed felt that what I have received from students and boys is more than what I have given to them.