He was blunt, “First ignore yourself …” This was hard advice from a master teacher, but not unexpected. We were mostly a Christian group and though humility is rare… we know we should seek it. No good class is the personal mission for fulfillment of a teacher trying to find himself. Plenty of bad classes are. We need educators not self-indulgent naval gazers.
When a teacher is focused on self, the class can only learn the small world that exists in one person’s head. Education is not a way to make money for a teacher…students are not data points, or job security. A class does not exist to serve the interests or pet of the teacher. Education is a search for the eternal truths, not the whims of an administrator.
The master teacher was not done: “Next you must ignore the student.”
What?
This is unexpected, especially if you know this teacher. He loves his students and has spent thousands of hours teaching for free. If you need a friend, he is a great one. He is one of the kindest men I know. You want anybody you love in his classes.
How could he say this?
He said it because he was talking about class and education, not all of life! We go to class to learn, not do group therapy. There is a place for advice giving and meeting certain needs …class isn’t that place. If class tries to do every good for every student, it will end up failing and not educating!
Education requires the teacher to focus on the common task he shares with the student: learning together to gain virtue, wisdom, and joy.
The task is God-ward not thee or me-ward. Together we see and our focus must be on where we are going. Outside of class, a good human (and the best teacher will be a good human) can meet individual needs. Inside of class, the group is not about any one of us, but about what we can see together. We are marching to Zion…and we must keep our educational eyes on that end.
We must love each other, but to learn we need an external focus…an eternal focus.
Thank you, master teacher.
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