Do you have a teacher’s oath?

Hi Brad!

I take the dare. In general, I do my best to manage to suit my teaching to a certain student or group and inspire that student or that group so that they take an active role in the learning process. It may sound abstract but the challenge is to put that into practice and be successful.
Hugs!
Marisa

Hey Marisa,

I knew you’d be up to the dare!

Yes, the challenge indeed is to walk the walk, and not just talk the talk— it’s actually much easier to stand in front of the class and lecture. I find it more difficult and time-consuming on the teacher’s part to figure out how to design a class that will take us more out of the picture, and activate the students as you’ve said.

Thanks for stopping by! -brad

Hi Brad!

That’s a very interesting point that you have brought up. Physicians and lawyers take their oaths when they graduate, politicians when they begin a new position. I wonder how new teachers at school would feel like if we had an oath, it would have to be serious and I am afraid some would even not take it for real. What we do have at school are the 5 values, which are Respect, Trust, Commitment, Transparency, and Coherence. All the school decisions, including firing and promoting, are based on these strong pillars and they are taken very seriously. They are the soul of the school.
What if students also had an oath? Do you think that would work?

Frog-hug,

Juan

Hi Brad, long time no comment. I’ve been kind of busy recently, but I hope to be able to read more of your stuff again now.

My philosophy is similar to Marisa’s in that I believe everybody learns in different ways. This means that it is up to the modern teacher (me) to be able to pick and choose from all of the theories, approaches and techniques available to help our learners learn as effectively and efficently as possible.

Hey Stephen.

Busy is a good thing (most of the time)! Agree 100% with what you’ve shared here and think that our diverse ways or learning are something that both learners and teachers can always become more aware of.

Cheers!

Great points/questions, Juan. Thanks for stopping by!

The thing about oaths or clubs or cultures is they are only as important as the value we place in them, so if the teachers’ or students’ oath was created and sustained in a unique and caring way, I think it’d be a great step forward.

Cheers, Brad

Hey Brad,
You’re totally right: teachers should have an oath when they start teaching too. We may not make decisions or behave in ways that could put someone in jail (Lawyer), or permanently harm them physically (Doctor) – but teachers, no matter if you’re teaching English, Law, History, Math – whatever – have the power to influence someone like few other people on the planet.

Are we promising to use that power for good? Or, as was pointed out by @1ce681ca0089f4d94434cd93d8bdb5b4:disqus – are we just ‘doin the work’ without really caring how we do it?

My oath as a teacher is this: I teach because it is something I know I am born to do. I do it with all of my might, and you’ll feel my love for what I do if you’re one of my students. I promise to never stop learning about how to be a better teacher. I promise to prepare my classes to the best of my abilities, and I promise that I will always put you, my student, first in how I prepare and deliver what I teach each day.

Great post, Brad!

Inspire! Motivate! Trust! Respect!

Would love to be a fly in your classroom, Aaron.

I think the part I like the most about what you said is “you’ll feel my love for what I do if you’re one of my students”. That’s pretty awesome. Lucky you and lucky them!

Love it!

[...] Filed under Day by Day in the Classroom,On Education var addthis_product = 'wpp-262'; var addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":true,"data_track_addressbar":false};if (typeof(addthis_share) == "undefined"){ addthis_share = [];}Brad Patterson posted the following question on his blog: [...]

“Knowledge is a social construct, never absolute; it must be continually questioned and challenged if it is to continue to be valid.” Unknown.

It’s more of a life philosophy than a teaching one, but one that comes into the classroom just the same.

love it… and this speaks to language very well too!

Too many people go through life selling themselves short – my oath would be to show people their own genius,

This is not just for children – teaching adults around the globe has shown me that everyone lights up at this (re)discovery of ‘themselves:))

That’s quite the inspiring oath! Really, really good one— and a challenge too!