The Mark of a Great Teacher
September 7th, 2006 by Richard CockrumI used to like pithy sayings. One of my favorites was “We can never be taught. We can only learn.” As with many such sayings, this one contains a lot of truth, but at the expense of other truths.
No one controls our lives but us. We decide how we feel. We decide the stance we assume in facing the world. We decide what information shapes our beliefs and view of the world. In this respect, we have to do the work to learn a new skill or gain new knowledge. We are really the only teacher we have.
In other respects, there have been some people in all of our lives who have drawn from us the urge to excel, to learn new skills and new information, people who have awakened in us the will to make changes in ourselves that we may never have thought of on our own or had the courage to attempt without their example.
Starbucker, from Ramblings From a Glass Half Full, today wrote an article on Rosa Say’s Talking Story about just such a teacher, Brother George. Starbucker could have gotten the book knowledge Brother George taught from any textbook. It wasn’t anything unusual. But Brother George’s influence on Starbucker went far beyond book knowledge. Due to his influence Starbucker changed himself. He learned new ways to approach life and his work that he may not have found without the influence of Brother George.
Great teachers and mentors are hard to find. This is true whether you are talking about a formal classroom, an author, or the person on the other end of a data line. And when we do find them, what they teach us often has little to do with the surface of our relationship. Such teachers, knowingly or unknowingly, awaken the spark that lies in the depths of each one of us, the spark that is willing to reach out of the comfortable little box that we call our selves and know as home, and step onto a new approach to life. As Starbucker said in the comments to the above article, this new way of viewing life opens up new vistas both metaphorically and physically. Thanks to inspirational teachers we find our own internal source of inspiration that allows us to go on learning, changing, and growing.
Popularity: 7% [?]
Del.icio.us
reddit
September 7th, 2006 at 5:34 pm
So very well said Rick - the potential for a great “fire” for learning and development is certainly within all of us, and some of us are lucky enough to find someone who can spark the flame, and some of us get even luckier to find another person or persons years later who stoke it when it starts to flicker. This is yet another reason I’ve grown to love blogging so much - the ability to foster these “realizations” about our lives that otherwise never would have seen the light of day. That’s what happened with me and Brother George. All the best!
September 7th, 2006 at 5:44 pm
And all the best to you, Starbucker. Thank you for the story.
September 7th, 2006 at 8:17 pm
Aloha Rick,
Thank you so much for sharing Starbucker’s story with your readers. I too love the coaching you have shared here, encouraging us to reach inside ourselves for the full capacity of our potential, owning our own responsibility to do so.
We can also consider what a gift it is to the person who is our teacher, mentor, or coach, to know they have made a difference for us, arming us with the sense of self which will prepare us for so much more of life’s living to come - just as it did for our friend Starbucker. I love the thought that Brother George may be watching us all from his better place, beaming with the legacy he was part of creating.
Rick I hope we can entice you to visit with us again throughout our forum this month on Joyful Jubilant Learning 2006.
My aloha to you and your readers,
Rosa Say
September 7th, 2006 at 9:08 pm
Hi Rosa! Thank you for stopping in and your kind words. It was good to hear one of the sources that helped draw out Starbucker’s drive and determination, and to share it with the people who visit here.
You can be sure I’ll be by to read and learn from some of the other stories at your place this month. Thank you for doing this for us.
September 29th, 2006 at 10:16 am
[…] This series of articles has also inspired many others to express their love of learning, links to which Rosa has posted for us to enjoy, including my own The Mark of a Great Teacher. Head on over to Talking Story, spend some time, and let your love of learning be rejuvenated! […]
January 12th, 2007 at 11:15 am
Nothing can be more meaningful than to make a positive difference in the life of another human being. Thanks for the article.
January 12th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
Hi Greg,
Thank you for stopping in, and for the compliment. Knowing how we learn from our teachers, and how we teach others, is precious.