Good teaching cannot be reduced to technique; good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher.
Interpretation
Good teaching relies on the teacher's personal qualities rather than just methods or techniques.
This quote emphasizes that effective teaching is not merely about employing specific techniques or strategies. Instead, it highlights the importance of the teacher's identity, integrity, and personal values, suggesting that the connection between a teacher and their students is rooted in authenticity and character.
In practice
A mentor might use this quote to inspire new teachers about the importance of authenticity in their teaching.
The academic bias against subjectivity not only forces our students to write poorly ("It is believed...," instead of, "I believe..."), it deforms their thinking about themselves and their world. In a single stroke, we delude our students into believing that bad prose turns opinions into facts and we alienate them from their own inner lives.
Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am.
Self-care is never a selfish act - it is only good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer others.
We need a coat with two pockets. In one pocket there is dust, and in the other pocket there is gold. We need a coat with two pockets to remind us who we are.
The kind of teaching that transforms people does not happen if the student’s inward teacher is ignored… we can speak to the teacher within our students only when we are on speaking terms with the teacher within ourselves.
Our deepest calling is to grow into our own authentic self-hood, whether or not it conforms to some image of who we ought to be. As we do so, we will not only find the joy that every human being seeks--we will also find our path of authentic service in the world.
Today knowledge has power. It controls access to opportunity and advancement.
A democratic society depends upon an informed and educated citizenry.
Sometimes very small children in a proper environment develop a skill and exactness in their work that can only surprise us.
Above all, those to whom the care of young minds has been entrusted should see to it that they respect both the smallest and largest animals as beings which, like people, have been summoned to the joy of life.
To read a novel requires a certain amount of concentration, focus, devotion to the reading. If you read a novel in more than two weeks, you don't read the novel, really.
Although I'm not actually embarrassed by this, I tend not to read books that have awesome movies made from them, regardless of how well or badly the movie represented the actual written story.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.