The world through a teacher’s eyes

I have studied and I have become a teacher. Although this job is not a fancy choice for all – as it requires hard work, commitment, long working hours and generates comparatively low income - I believe this choice was right for me. I see teaching as a wonderful occupation. With all due respect, I firmly believe that the most important career among all other professions is teaching. Every new generation and the youth of every nation are shaped by the hands of teachers. Need an example? Think about it … whoever you may ask could easily mention a teacher who, at some point, had affected their life, worldview or ideology; all of which have influenced the choices they have made. For this reason, the impact that teachers make is crucial beyond measure in the lives of students.

I have been teaching for about ten years already and I have enjoyed every single second spent in the classroom with my students. Nowadays, the trend is all about disesteeming the teaching profession as evidenced by many students selection of, what I consider to be a ‘holy’ occupation, of teaching as their last career option when it comes to university placements.

The reason is very clear: we are creating and growing a materialistic generation who feels that happiness is proportional to how much money they make. The underlying principle is that we as teachers are not fully equipped for educating. I wrote ‘educating’ because the terms educating and teaching are quite different. People who are equipped with enough subject knowledge and pedagogical background could achieve teaching excellence, however, very few of them achieve the goal of educating.

Some people see teaching simply as transmitting information to the minds of students and find this sufficient for the teacher’s duty. However, I believe in the contrary and find this view lacking in substance. In fact, access to information has become very easy in today’s world; students can find the relevant information quicker and in more effective ways on the internet.

If this is the prescribed duty of teachers, then a virtual learning atmosphere would sooner or later take the teacher’s place. I feel strongly that moulding and shaping students’ behaviour, attitudes and inspiring them to learn, is much more important than the curriculum we deliver.

If we are unable to boost our students’ enthusiasm, help change their attitudes in a positive direction, teach them the value of human rights and dignity we are just creating more knowledgeable devils who could make this cynical world worse.

If we want to create a better future for our children, more than simply improving their grades, we need to concentrate on building and equipping them with universally accepted humanistic values which are composed of the seeds of religious awareness, cultural sensitivity and respect for humans and nature in general.

I feel that it would not be an exaggeration to spend even half of a governmental budget to educate a nation’s youth with this purpose in mind. In order to have a safe, healthy and productive atmosphere we indeed need to invest in education as much as possible.

Schools, and all educational platforms, are holy places where we can find solutions to humanity’s problems. Schools are the greatest laboratories of all. Like a skillful chemist produces a cure for a disease, we could produce a cure for the ill-being, corrupt mindsets, and all skewed growth in human nature.

A common Turkish proverb says: “A tree could only be bent when it is still green”. Likewise, we can only shape our young generations when they are still young and their minds are still pure.

In the hands of skillful teachers by the art of teaching and educating, young people can be elevated to the level of saints who are equipped with knowledge and character.

My world is a school where everyone knows their responsibilities and are ready to make a difference in the lives of others; making each day purposeful. Maybe teaching is not seen as significant as other professions but only the ones who immerse themselves could truly understand what it is truly worth.