"What have I done to inspire children in my teaching?" "Who do I think I have inspired over the many years I have been working in schools?" "Who has inspired me in my lifetime and how did they do it?" "How do I inspire people around me?"
During the funeral service I attended, every person who spoke, talked of the 'profound effect' this phenomenal person had on them in so many different ways. Through his love of reading, the great outdoors, passion for knowledge and sporting prowess, this person touched many people in his lifetime. So much so that 3 past students stood and spoke, honouring their teacher. Two of them remembered this great man who taught them in 1954 in standard two. The other was still at school, the teacher had worked as a regular reliever in his school. I was both inspired and deeply moved by what these people had to share of a man who touched them in so many ways. He was firm but fair, extremely passionate, eloquent, larger than life, well read, generous, humble and a walking encyclopedia.
I feel that it's important that I reflect on my questions above regularly because amongst the demands of achievement expectations, assessment analysis, management, paperwork and everyday occurances, it's easy to loose sight of the child. At the end of the day, the child is at the center of all that teachers do. Yes their education is important, but so too, is the person that child becomes and I have a part to play in that...isn't that the reason I became and still am a 'teacher'?
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