Regardless of this array of entertaining personalities, I can honestly say that after all these years observing educators, there’s only one thing that distinguishes one teacher from another and that is spirit. What is this thing called spirit and is it something that we can nurture in developing teachers?
This is what comes to mind when I think about spirited
educators:
- A spirited educator strategically and purposefully crafts moments in which they reveal truth about themselves to their students.
- A spirited educator understands teaching as an act of humility and power at the same time.
- A spirited educator finds ways to transcend the material plane in order to create a safe space here on earth.
- A spirited educator knows that we belong to the WWW (world wide web) of souls and that each individual is both a conduit and a receptor for energy, love and knowledge.
I believe we don’t pay enough attention to this very
important topic in the teaching profession— that is the spiritual nature of teaching
and learning and its role in the evolution of human development. I started exploring this topic several years
ago with
Dr. Talwar but so much has changed that I think it’s worth revisiting.
I had the opportunity to observe a training the other day
and the content was very simple and straightforward, so much so that I was a
little bored. Yet, there was one point in the session that struck a chord. The
trainer told the participants that it was important to recognize and celebrate
each other and towards that aim, she asked that each participant tell someone
in the room something they appreciated about someone else. I had seen this type
of activity before and as an observer taking notes, I wanted to see if people
would move around and if someone would be left out. Shortly after the instructions were laid out and
a low buzz filled the room, the trainer came over to me and held out her
hand. I was surprised that she included
me. Holding my hand, she told me how thankful she was that I had shared a personal
story with her when we first met because it made her feel less alone in the world. She said, “You reminded me that we all
experience bad days and it was so important for me to hear that at that moment.
I really identified with you.” While she
spoke, I felt energy move through us and I have to tell you, I am one of those
people that generally shy away from this sort of thing because I believe something
as personal as gratitude should be organic and not contrived—but the experience
happened onto me and I melted— literally the tension in my muscles disappeared.
I was graced with that woman’s presence.
It was only a moment, it must have lasted less than a minute.
As it turned out, it was one of only two moments in a whole
day that I had experienced something worthwhile.
Earlier, I had gotten pulled over by a police officer for
talking on my cell phone while driving.
I had been lost for over an hour and was extremely late to my meeting. I
called the office and the support staff was feeding me directions. By the time the policeman got to my window, I
burst out in tears. I had been on the
road for over two hours fighting traffic, a three car accident and a shitty GPS
system! Now, I was facing a whopping
ticket and well, I broke. The police
officer peered into the window and I started telling him between sobs that I
was lost and late and exhausted and I needed to be at a school and so on and so
forth and he waited while I let the tide rip. Honestly, I couldn't do anything
but babble. When there was a pause he
asked why I hadn't used my speaker and I said I didn't have a speaker and I
pointed to my directions and the GPS and repeated over and over again how I was
desperate. The man looked perturbed. He stood back and took a long pause and it
was in that moment I noticed his heavy eyes. Then something strange happened. A part of me stepped out of
myself and I watched us there, in the middle of a four lane intersection, on a
nameless street, at the center of distressed urban city, me wiping spit and
snot onto my sleeve and he in a navy blue uniform with a decision to make about
how to use his power. In that floaty moment, I just knew everything
was going be fine and he was going to send me on my way. And I was right. He gave me directions and said, “Ma’am, you’re
only four blocks away. You’re going to be alright now.”
Two acts of humanity altered my reality and each happened in
under a minute. Two total teachable minutes
out of a whole day! They taught me
compassion and the power of the spirit to break out of the mundane roles that
entrap us into believing we are separate.
We can and must transcend the material world and connect
with each other, to see past the obvious so that we can make our earthly space
a little less hostile. And we, yes, we
can and must practice and build this into our agenda— that being a spirited
educator does not have to be organic; it can be practiced and nurtured and
encouraged. If done with purpose and
honesty, the impact will be real.
Teachers and teacher educators are vulnerable every
day. We are like sacrificial lambs who
offer ourselves up to children and adults for the purpose of growth and
development. Many of us suffer from the social, emotional and spiritual impact
of concurrent reforms that make our jobs less and less humane, less and less
creative, less and less joyful. Many of
us are scared of speaking up or out
against programs and policies that don’t seem to have the best interest of
children at heart but in our silence, our spirit suffers. How are we implicated in this crisis? We ask ourselves. What can we do about it when we are in need
of a job? How can we hold on to the
meaning and purpose behind our everyday tasks when we are getting so much
pressure and feeling confused? There are
so many contradictions and incongruences that we have to stop and take notice
of how this impacts our overall well-being.
I want us to think about what it takes to be a ‘spirited
educator’ today and how we can find the strength and courage in ourselves to
walk along this path.
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