Being a Teacher in Today’s Culture

My mother said I always wanted to be a teacher. I don’t ever remember saying that but she’s the mother and mothers remember these important things so I guess I did say that. I have had many different types of jobs and worked in many different industries over the years and I can clearly say the involvements that stand out for me the most were in education. I am thrilled to be alive at this time. The work that is being done out in the world today by organisations, institutes, charities and individual leaders with enormous integrity is unprecedented in history. The satellite gave us images of Tiananmen Square, the Wall came down in Berlin, apart from Osama Bin Laden it is becoming increasingly hard to hide in a technological world where it only takes a matter of minutes to Google a satellite image of anywhere. As the world becomes seamless people reach out further a field and become knowledgeable on people, places and subjects that previously were unavailable. Communities of like minded people are flourishing worldwide allowing people, sometimes for the first time, to feel related and connected to others and to fulfil the human being need to belong to a group, mindset or thing. The ability to converse freely with other like minded people creates virtual Zones of Proximal Development that increase the ability to think creatively. Mindsets, dogmas and stigmas are all being crushed under the weight of education. Group discussion forces people to reflect and think at a deeper level giving people the opportunity to analyse, evaluate and create (Blooms Taxonomy, 1956) allowing for higher order thinking and learning. Education has proven to be the key to the AIDS and Gender Inequality epidemic in Africa, hunger is ending in India through educating over one million grassroots women elected to panchayats, or village councils, giving them effective decision-making power. We are fast becoming a global generation and it is obvious to most that our responsibilities extend beyond our immediate lives and families to the entire family and that every human being has a fundamental need to lead a life of dignity, meaning and purpose – to know that our lives make a difference. The Hunger Project (May 2002) Unleashing the Human Spirit. I feel that there is no better time than now to become a teacher. This great shift in global consciousness allows teachers to teach what has always needed to be learned, that is, what does it mean to be human.