The whole concept of teaching as a noble profession is, in my opinion, a bit overrated. Pardon my cynicism but the nobility aspect of teaching is almost limited to the low compensation that majority of us receive. Based on what I've observed, what really keeps a lot of people in this profession is probably the power and authority that comes along with being a teacher. I'm sorry, but come on, nothing beats being buttered up all the time by dutiful students or being incessantly bombarded with flowery compliments. Not to say that all students are ass-kissing,scheming little imps, because the truth is, like parents, teachers are seen as figures that are close to infallible...and with great power comes a great responsibility. Regardless of whether you've taught your subject a million, gazillion times. it is imperative to constantly update and educate oneself. I begin to worry when I suddenly feel confident if I enter a class--it means that I'm becoming complacent and arrogant. I have to have that "butterflies in my stomach" kind of rush just before each class. It's my driving force. And I have to have some sort of reaction from my students, whether an "i-understand-this-crap" or an "i-hate-this-course-plus-my-prof's-a-moron" kind of response. And contrary to the norm, I prefer being corrected and reminded of minor conceptual mistakes by my students. Meaning to say, they're actually paying attention and that I have to reboot myself.
One public elementary school teacher once said that teaching is just like performing. You have to capture the attention of your audience and be able to inculcate the lesson you're teaching. I do remember teachers who deliberately distracted us from the lesson by entertaining us with far-related/anecdotal things. Of course,I preferred the teachers who really meant business--those who had such a fantastic grasp of the subject matterthat they were able to simplify it and really integrate it in my long-term memory. The basic principles must be taught with much precision and clarity, because you don't want your students to later realize that they've been suckered by a teacher who basically twisted them around their fingers.
Students are much more challenging these days simply because they're smarter and have unlimited access to knowledge. I think teachers are no longer main sources of information, but rather, facilitators of learning---salespeopleof careers---monitors of progress. That's why anybody can teach. Anybody can claim to be an expert----anybody who can at least read a book, that is.
I'm not downgrading my profession...it's just that teaching has become some sort of outlet for a handful of self-righteous people who are really intellectual egomaniacs who just copy and paste unverified information from the web. Hey, I'm not being Pontius Pilate or anything...this post is really cathartic and is a reminder to myself.
