Learning From and Showing Respect For Our Teachers
In our lives we will have quite a few teachers. They will come to us as older, younger and our age. They will come as good, bad and indifferent influences. Even with that in mind, everyone of them will influence our life experiences. Some of them will be in front of a classroom, while others we will read their teachings or experiences. Some of them will be in the flesh, others will be in the media or the internet. Some will be there when we least expected them and others will show up, shall we say unwanted (though needed).
Some of them will have virtually no impact on us. We will get through their classes or be taught a skill by them and after our test we will be done with them. Others we will be reminded of from time to time when their subject comes up in our lives. Still others will be on our shoulder constantly reminding us of something that was important to them and more probably, important to both of us. We may not have even known it was important to us until they made us aware.
When we are young and still in school we can show respect for our teachers by listening to them in class, asking and answering questions while showing interest in the subject they are teaching. Being on time for the class, practicing the skill being taught. Our most important teacher when we are young is our parents, so listening to them and following their lead and requests is how we show them respect. As we get older though our teachers will come in many forms.
As we get older we get to choose some of our teachers, and reject those that may not be teaching healthy lifestyles. So who have we chosen to be our teachers? Are they people we have met in our career, or have we sought them out for a special education in areas we would like to improve in?
How do we learn from them? By actively listening and watching. We can examine the results of how they live their life and ask ourselves if it fits us with where we are at the moment. Is it something that we would like to have in our life or are the results opposite of our values?
There is a saying that goes like this, “When the student is ready the teacher will appear.” As we meet individuals in our day to day life, we may be surprised by what each individual has to teach us. Do we take the time to learn? Or do we simply allow the social pressures of society guide us and lead us about without examining different points of view? We may not see the validity of a point of view unless we are willing to “sit with it” for a while and look at it from a number of different angles.
Finally, showing respect to our teachers can be done in two ways. By showing our appreciation for them verbally and with our action. When a teacher sees us put into practice or make an adjustment in our thinking or way of doing something, they have a sense of satisfaction that is difficult to describe, but once you have experienced it you will know that you are a teacher by design or by default and I can assure you that you really will enjoy that role.