In my life
as a student, I have met only a few great teachers. Who is a great teacher to
me? First of all, a great teacher need not be working as a teacher. A great teacher transforms some of his students positively and inspires
many more to new and greater heights. He cannot but be
passionate about teaching, and it is likely he is always in a permanent learning mode. A
great teacher creates impact although he may sometimes steer off the syllabus.
If you were to ask him why he steered off track, perhaps he would tell you that
positive transformation is at the core of the curricula, and therefore, he has stayed true to the purpose of teaching and the curricula.
Mr David Fahy, an
Irishman in my secondary school, was more a lion than a school teacher. Much larger than most adult
Asians, his size, voice and antics scared the hell out of my classmates.
Thinking logically and being articulate in our thoughts was the path that led to a well of knowledge the lion protected. One not to shut his mouth in class, I asked
intelligent questions and queried about many things. The lion nodded to me kindly. He knew I was hungry for the knowledge in his well, and he allowed me to lap up. This was about a decade before the birth of the global internet. The lion spewed knowledge, spoke about Aristotle,
current world events, major events in history and many other new worlds to me.
That single year in 1987, I was a chrysalis, in a bright cocoon, consuming
knowledge and envisioning my future and the books I would write (although I
could not yet write well!).
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| From CJC Facebook (2015) – he still looks youthful! |
A positive
transformation was taking place, causing the class clown to become analytical
and a serious designer of his future. To me, Mr David Fahy was a window to a new
world. His knowledge, enthusiasm and thinking methods were what I needed then. By the way, I just checked the net, and he is currently a senior English teacher at Catholic Junior College. Lucky CJCians!
Azul Terronez, the
guy giving the speech below, collected
more than 20 thousand responses from students in over 2 decades. He wanted to know from them what makes a good teacher
great. Note the distinction between good and great teachers. (It is my belief that Singapore schools are full of good teachers but there is a severe lack of great teachers.
By this, I mean that most of our teachers are competent to teach subjects and they may even empower students
to score. But only some of them make a positive and transformative impact on the lives of their
students.) Anyway, Azul presents students' perspectives on what great
teachers are and dissect their statements to arrive at a finer truth.
Insightful. Just by hearing what he shares, we can infer that Azul Terronez is probably a great teacher
himself, a positive and transformative force in the classroom.
If you are a school teacher, a
good question to ask yourself is – are you a good teacher
or a great teacher? And if you are not yet great, maybe it is time to scratch your
head and seek the path of becoming a great teacher. Why? Our kids, like kids all over the world, are in need of great teachers.
