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Wednesday 9 April 2014

The Joy of Teaching

It is humbling to teach a child more intelligent than one's self. One learns constantly from the young, anyway, and to be teaching a very bright young person is a joy.


Teaching is not merely a profession, but a vocation. One must have gifts for teaching, such as the ability to organize and be self-motivated. One must be able to think on one's feet and change the curricula as needed to suit the students.

One must know context, history, religion, philosophy, art, music, and the other humanities in order to do a decent job.

I cannot explain how a highly analytical person like myself manages to teach. I consider it a gift, a gift for the Church, for the upbuilding of the Kingdom of God.

The work of the child, writes Montessori, is to create the adult God wants them to be. We teachers join in that creation. If a teacher is not teaching the whole child, body and soul, that person is not a good teacher.

The job of the teacher is to clear away the mind for Truth, and then, to present the Truth.

In this way, the teacher imitates, in the act of mimesis, God. The parents begin the creation process and the teacher can only help the parents in the formation of the child.

Do not give authority to teachers who do not understand that each child is body and soul. Do not give authority to a teacher who does not know and follow God.

You will lose your child to the darkness of errors. A good teacher earns and then, keeps the trust of the parents and the child. One who is not trustworthy cannot be a good teacher.

A teacher must have discernment and know what a young person can learn. One learns discernment and uses the virtues and gifts of the Spirit in teaching.

One thing a teacher must have is objectivity. And, the teacher must be able to teach objectivity.

Here is Aristotle:

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” 

 Metaphysics

If the teachers of your children only know relativism and subjectivity, take them out of the classroom.

The teacher is the servant to the intellect and to the soul and she directs the children in God's Ways.