Motivation and Inspiration. Key factors to being a great teacher?

I've been sitting on this video for a while now.  It strikes at my core in a couple of ways though I was a little unsure on how to approach the subject.

Some of you might not be impressed because it's Bill Gates and there's that whole "Which Operating System is better" between PC and Mac which has been raging on for years.  And, of course, everyone loves to hate the richest man in the world.  I'd like you all to set that aside for a while and listen.  It's an interesting view from outside looking in.  Someone who isn't a teacher so lacks any of the jaded outlooks that teaching can instill in us.

I'm actually going to discuss this video more than once for a while because it says a lot of important things.  Some are, of course, bold and out there.  Today though, I want to talk about something that is implied and stems from the section from 3 minutes to 5 minutes and it's "Transfer Knowledge from Great Teachers" part.

I don't think that's all that there is to it.

Being CRTs we are perhaps in the best position to see that 3-year plateau at work.  We move through schools and see many different teachers in action.  We replace other teachers and get to observe the similarities in their classes year after year.

I have now taught along side some of my old teachers and on behalf of some of them too.  Watching the, and observing their class, it often sparks some memory and makes me reminice about some experience I had with them 10-20 years ago.  The class isn't mine, schools have changed and methods have moved on but there's certainly enough to set me off on a daydream for a few seconds.  

I have also observed a large number of beginning teachers, seeing their skills evolve at a massive rate for the first few years and then plateau after about the third year.  My observations mirror what Bill Gates is saying the study showed.

There are a couple teachers though...  The exceptions that prove the rule.  Those who remain passionate about their teaching and their students.  I believe it's just as much about the transfer of that inspiration and enthusiasm from great teachers as their knowledge.  Perhaps more so. 

Inspiration and Motivation.  We can all have it!  We can all think back to that idealistic young us, applying to University to follow our passion to teach the young and improve their lives immeasurably.  We can take ourselves off the 3-year plateau and put ourselves back onto that rapid evolutionary standard that we started out on.  All you need to do is find your inspiration.

My inspiration?  I'll share an example or two.

I worked for a year, half a day a week, teaching Literacy to VCAL students.  When I started?  It seemed like an insurmountable obstacle to teach these children.  I'd replaced Teachers fairly regularly in the school and I felt, and the staff often told me, that I was doing a good job for the time I was there.  But this was different.  Suddenly I was responsible for the literacy plan for a whole year and I couldn't just follow through on the plan that had been left.  It was not an easy road, that I can tell you!

Out of that?  The improvement in the class is certainly satisfying but there are a couple students in particular that give me back that inspiration I had when I first started out on my teaching journey.  Both started out as struggling students.

The first, a boy, was transferred in from a mainstream school part way through the year.  He wouldn't read anything but his favourite author (Dr Seuss) and he wasn't reading, he was reciting from memory.  Of course the mainstream school he came from wasn't set up to deal with such a student and this desire for Dr Seuss was endulged at every turn, just for the sake of maintaining an orderly classroom.  It took time but I was able to inspire him to motivate himself outside of that box.  One day I walked into that classroom he ran up and gave me a hug (he was a hugger), and asked excitedly what he was going to be reading today.  It hit me how far he'd come and I was close to tears.

The second, a girl, didn't really stand out in class in academic terms.  She was struggling but wasn't overly opposed to improving her reading skills.  She was somewhat reluctant to begin but warmed up as the lesson continued on.  Due to this outlook she improved quite a lot through the year.  The following year a teacher pulled me aside to have a word about her and, of course, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop.  When given the choice of extra curricular activities, she had narrowed her choice to dance and literacy, since she was avid about dance I was happy that Literacy made the top two.  Now I got the other shoe, she had chosen Literacy as an extra currucilar activity.  She has since gone on to win herself a couple of awards.

My inspiration does not come from my success at improving these students ability to read and write.  My inspiration does not come from the improvement in their grades, or even their awards.

My inspiration comes from the fact that I inspired these two students to go from students who groaned or outright acted out if you suggested Literacy topics in the classroom to two students eager for every new book you put in front of them and picked up a pencil without a second thought when it came to writing.  Two students who started out with the core belief that they weren't good enough, weren't smart enough, to read well and to shatter that aspect of their low self-esteem. 

Two students who, even in my absence, have continued on with that passion to improve their literacy.  Two students who let the belief in themselves gained from learning to read at levels they believed impossible to spread into other areas of their lives.

Their continuing passion and self-motivation is my passion and self-motivation.

In those two students are the personification of everything that younger, wide-eyed, nervous me hoped and dreamed I would do.  The hopes and dreams that made me overcome those nerves, to actually walk through the door of the university, sit in a university seat for the first time and begin to become a Teacher.

While I certainly hope this gives you pause and helps rekindle any lost passion, is this "just" an inspirational mesage?  I hope not.

Because of those two students, because I lived that experience, it improves me as a teacher.  Not just because I remain enthusiastic and hopeful, it's deeper than that.  I broke a few of the misconceptions that put me on that plateau after 3 years.  Looking back, even as a CRT, that 3 year mark saw a reduction in the improvements I was making.  I was comfortable with the job I was doing, schools were happy with my performance and my students were learning even if I was only there for a day.

If those two wonderful, brave and inspiring students can drop their preconceptions, especially when those preconceptions are an important and ingrained safety net generated by their disability?  Then perhaps I'm not half as good as I thought I was if I can't do the same, especially when my preconceptions are based on not much more than contentment.

When I did that I realised something amazing.  That hesitent and nervous girl who hoped and dreamed of being a wonderful teacher is still there.  A bit battered, a bit bruised, but still well and truly there.  I discovered that, given a voice for the first time in a long time, she doesn't want me on that plateau.  I don't want me on that plateau.  

I want to continue to evolve and continue to grow as a Teacher.  

Regards,

Mel.