When I was a college student in Taiwan, I used to seize whatever opportunities I could get to practice English with foreigners. I would hang out with missioners, foreign travelers, visiting staff/faculty in the university, and also some friends/ relatives from overseas. I believe we need to practice English with the people from the actual English-speaking world.
To step up my effort, I always politely inquired if those “English-speaking” people could teach me English. To my amazement, the majority of them turned down my request. They were either too busy, unavailable, not interested, or not comfortable in serving as my English teacher. I wouldn’t believe them and kept pushing until finally I realized that not all the English speaking people knew how to teach others English. Similarly, I found it a daunting task for a Chinese to teach foreigners how to speak Chinese. Knowing how to speak Chinese doesn’t warrant your success of teaching Chinese.
I have a series of questions to ponder in my mind: Can anybody teach? What does it take to teach? Can all teachers teach? Are teachers born or trained?
I have heard of several cases of piano teachers sending their kids to learn how to play piano with other piano teachers. Can we assume that piano teachers must be good at playing piano and teaching others how to play piano? Why wouldn’t they teach their own kid(s)? Likewise, I also saw many wonderful educators failing to teach their own kid(s) well. Can we assume all capable, talented, and caring teachers should leave no child behind, especially their own?
At the wake of the No Child Left Behind Act, the highly qualified teachers are those who received the degree diplomas and teaching certifications. I remember reading about a few old teachers in the west states remote schools being pulled out. Those teachers had been teaching (as a service to their community) for long but they never had the formal training or teaching certifications. Their school sites typically were like a big classroom holding a few students in various grades. They did the marvelous job, cultivating kids in the community. Their salaries were low and that was why their communities could not successful recruit people from the outside. Would you think these non-highly-qualified teachers were inferior to other teachers?
Teachers are influential. However, not all teachers impose positive influence onto their students. A new high school freshman struggled with biology. She tried very hard but had no clue of how to study and perform well in class, although it was only the first month of class. Per her father’s suggestion, she went directly to her biology teacher for guidance and help. The teacher looked at her test scores and experiment reports, and apathetically said to her, “I don’t know how to help you. I think probably biology is just not your thing.” The teacher’s comments shut her down completely and she decided not to waste time on biology any more because it was just not her thing.
Sometimes I was amazed to know that many coaches were not great performers in the area of their coaching. However, they have strong interest in their students. They were firm, confident, and determined. They were observant and could identify areas for improvements. They also facilitated good plans and opportunities to develop their students whenever possible. They are excellent teachers.
Can you teach? Do you have what it takes to teach?
