Hello everyone!
I don't have any specific agenda to write this post. But however, few days ago someone (a friend who is also a teacher) asked me...
"Who motivated you to become a teacher? How do you motivate yourself in being an active teacher?"
It was a retrospection again I have done to myself in being a teacher after an year. So, I just want to pen down the facts to let them know how I motivate myself.
To be frank, I was never particularly motivated to become a teacher. There were a couple of my school teachers to whom I looked up, but they were like cool role models. When I became a mother, I was very much interested in teaching my kids who were about to start their preschool. Then I used to recollect the student - teacher relationship I had with my school teachers.
But spending the time with your own kids during their early childhood doesn't make you a professional teacher. Teaching your own kids doesn't have any curriculum. I, as a mother helped them to be safe, treat each other fairly, express their emotions in healthy ways. So there is nothing much of "who motivated me?" question arising here.
I am not motivated to be a teacher but I enjoy being a mother teacher. To acquire this mother teacher role, I have done specified courses and daily I read at least one article that would help me improve my professional skills. What ever course you may do, how many articles you may read... there is something called "On job learning."
So, during my job......
I love to bring myself to the level of kids... sit along with them on mat... listen to them.. play with them... talk to them and above all being their friend. As a teacher my job is to ease the kid and make them feel comfortable. Make them understand that there is a two way method of speaking and listening, a sacred agreement that no one is the boss of anyone else. Its building a relationship with each and every learner of the class.
I am motivated by the challenges I face while building the relationship with the learners. Its endlessly amazing to me that the more I learn through these challenges, still there is much more to learn. There is always a deeper depth, a greater height and a silly way to understand a child. Finding the path to complete the challenge is the point that keeps motivating me and the young learners in my class are the ones who motivates me.
Jyothi
