If there’s one thing I’ve learnt in my years as an educator it’s this humbling truth: I’m not always the teacher.
Of course I’d walk into the classroom armed with my lesson plan, the handy notes, and the vague hope that the edu-com will cooperate.
I may be all set to teach. But the actually learning happens from the most unexpected directions. Those very same young minds that I’m supposed to teach often became my teachers.
Everyone has something to teach, doesn’t matter if neither them nor you have realised it.
But that teaching will happen only if you’re open to it. It’s your job to be pay attention and keep an open mind.
Lessons You Didn’t Sign Up For
There were days when I’d question my ability to teach as most looked disinterested and distracted. And when I’d ask them to explain, they’d be majorly off track.
The old me would instinctively correct them, re-explain the appropriate response. But then I realised something. If they aren’t getting something right, it means they haven’t understood it in the first place.
Their confusion was excellent feedback, of course not delivered in the politest packaging!
When teaching them pronouns, most got confused with the use of we, they and you. I thought I had done a good job explaining but the results spoke otherwise. So I devised a game.
That’s the most important lesson I learnt as an educator – to innovate and improvise with each situation. The notes were the theory; the teaching was the application. I can’t thank my students enough for reminding me of this basic requirement for an educator.
Each of them contributed to my growth. If the boisterous ones taught me ways to calmly engage them, the quiet ones showed me that silence isn’t always disengagement.
I always found the quiet ones a challenge. They don’t raise their hands, don’t interrupt, don’t draw attention, yet they observe and process (most of the times).
Their enigmatic presence taught me patience, pausing to think and deep processing.
The Fine Art of Paying Attention
Learning is not restricted to the classroom or to the neatly structured lesson plans. That’s not how it happens. Most learning opportunities are hidden in behaviour reactions and unexpected comments.
Most life lessons are learnt in the classroom. Each student contributes unknowingly to this learning.
My Achilles heel was craft work. How I dreaded making those origami birds or flowers. In those classes my students took over. Some attempted to teach me, some mocked my expertise (and in effect my ability to be a teacher).
And some showed me to be forgiving. The class sage profoundly declared, “Its ok if you don’t know. Now you too can learn something!”
Some with questionable artistic skills taught me about perspectives; it’s how you see it. You can be happy with your work, doesn’t matter what others say.
The quiet ones taught patience, the lazy ones taught motivation, the ones who challenge you teach you flexibility, the curious ones taught about being prepared and be able to think on your feet.
I was learning when I thought I was teaching. All it took was an open mind and willingness to pay attention.
Everyone, Everywhere
I quoted examples from the classroom because that’s where I learnt my lessons. But you don’t have to step into a classroom to learn. The world is one big, slightly chaotic learning environment.
Take a short pause and think about the things you’ve learnt because of the people around you. That colleague who always has an excuse for not doing his work, or working together with your team, or preparing for an interview or presentation.
Nobody announced they were going to teach you something important. Yet at every step you’ve learnt something from being around them.
Discipline, punctuality, work ethics, empathy, compassion, resilience, motivation, patience, communication, teamwork – the skills are endless. And each of them you had an opportunity to polish when working with others.
So the next time you find yourself in a conversation, or meeting, or even an awkward interaction, pay attention.
You might just learn something, even if you didn’t mean to.
Writer. Trainer. Educator. Veteran. Fuelled by coffee, writing and travelling.
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