"The Courage to Teach"

I can still remember the names of all of my teachers from kindergarden through graduate seminars. From Mrs. Smith to Professor Epstein, these men and women have opened my mind to ideas and cultivated my education. I am thankful for each one. But, while some teachers adequately conveyed the material at hand, others inspired creativity and passion. From some teachers I took away the ability to perform a prescribed task, but from others I took away a new way to envision the world and my place in it. While some appear in fragments of my memory, others left an indelible mark on my character and heart. What is it that transforms a teacher from a mere instructor into a inspiration?

Parker Posey,* in his riveting and resonant book, The Courage to Teach, argues that "good teaching cannot be reduced to technique, good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher." I don't want to imply that bad teachers are bad people--certainly individuals are gifted differently--but it is a provocative notion that the best teachers must in fact offer not pedagogy but their very person. Posey is worth here quoting at length: "Good teachers join self and subject in the fabric of life. Good teachers possess a capacity for connectedness... As good teachers weave the fabric that joins them with students and subjects, the heart is the loom on which the threads are tied, the tension is held, the shuttle flies, and the fabric is stretched tight. Small wonder, then, that teaching tugs at the heart, opens the heart, even breaks the heart---and the more one loves teaching, the more heartbreaking it can be. The courage to teach is the courage to keep one's heart open in those very moments when the heart is asked to hold more than it is able sot hat teacher and students and subject can be woven into the fabric of community that learning, and living, require." Teaching is always more than teaching history or biology or math, it is a revelation of the human condition, embodying before others the vulnerability essential to ask questions and ponder Truth.

Now that I myself am a teacher, I am evermore humbled and awed by those who spent their months and years pouring into me as a student. Stemming from my own profound gratitude to them, I want to dedicate a series of posts to these remarkable individuals--a tribute to their integrity, wisdom, and love. Tomorrow we'll start from the beginning--first grade. Mrs. Hess, get ready.

On a slightly lighter note, I got my own teaching evaluations the other day and one contained this hilarious little gem: "Ansley has a sensitivity and ability to provide a neutering and caring place for discussion." Oh my.

*I got this idea (and reference to Posey) from Professor Michael Bess who is himself a beautiful example of great teaching derived from a fearless moral character and honesty.