Qualities of a DEDICATED Educator

        Ni Hao and that is to say "hello" in Chinese :) and so the learning experience begins. You're probably wondering why the word "dedicated" in my blog's title is typed in capitals. Well in my opinion a teacher isn't a teacher until he or she is dedicated. Dedication is a quality that I truly believe a teacher as a professional MUST possess...... and I stress on MUST POSSESS!

Before we begin, it is imperative that we understand what is education, who is an educator and what does it mean to be dedicated. Well education is in the eyes of the beholder lol. (This is just a subjective view by the way). Education is the transferal of skills, morals, values, methods and the like, basically anything could be taught. To say that education strictly takes place in a classroom would be incorrect. Learning takes places in every-day life situations. An educator is one who provides or imparts skills, knowledge and information to others. To be dedicated is to be devoted to a task or purpose, having single-minded loyalty or integrity.

With that out the way, any person (the educator) who is responsible for imparting skills, knowledge and information (education) to others must be devoted to the purpose with singleness of mind and loyalty (dedicated). In my opinion, if an educator at any level is not dedicated they should not be a teacher. I believe a dedicated teacher is not only devoted but firm in managing his or her classroom. When I use the term "firm" I refer to being strict enough to maintain a high discipline level, while being flexible enough to allow students to express themselves confidently. An educator must not only be dedicated and firm but patient, unbiased, innovative, inspiring, organized, respectful, accountable, emphatic, determined, evolving, resourceful, resilient and the list can go on. I trust that we have all encountered a teacher with at least some of the listed qualities, if not, I pray that the generations after us will.

I have not had one teacher in particular with all these qualities but I have had a few dedicated teachers thus far. One teacher of mine, who have not only influenced me but also shaped my understanding of teaching and learning was Mr. C.Joseph. Because of him I'm no longer ashamed to admit that I failed CXC General Mathematics five times (over a period of 6 years) before I actually passed on the sixth and seventh attempt. (Yes, I know what you're thinking, lol. It's true though. My sixth attempt was back in January 2014. I was able to pull through with a grade III, and in May 2014, I improved to a grade II).  It was not until my encounter with Mr. C.J  that I truly saw qualities of a dedicated teacher. C.J. at age 68 a retired oilfield worker has a natural passion for Mathematics, people and teaching. I mean the man could TEACH!!! (Maybe even better than trained professionals) lol. With just nine months in his class, (he taught at his home) and two attempts at writing math, I understood not just matrices and simultaneous equations but what is a dedicated teacher. For your information if I had failed math again I would have had to put off pursuing my BSc in Education yet another year :( (yeahhh wasn't looking forward to that). Anyways C.J. is innovative in that he always found various ways to explain one topic. He is patient, never complained about slow learners. He is ever evolving, he never allowed time to pass him by. C.J was organized and that's just the tip of the iceberg. He would even give us extra classes with no added cost on a Sunday, if we needed the individual attention. C.J. was quite a motivational speaker as well. When you felt like a failure his words of encouragement would set you back on track. Trust me, I can go on but my intention is not to bore you. (Moving on). Never have I met a person who wasn't a trained teacher articulate the job so well, with the exception of my grandmother of-course :p. Any who, I noted all of this just to say that after critical thoughts about C.J's teaching methods, I saw education and learning in a whole new way. I realized that "teaching" is not what the dedicated teacher "does" but instead who he or she "is". Through him I have learned the "how to's of teaching" because of the qualities he possesses. I will most definitely adapt his methods when I am granted the opportunity to teach, because he has truly helped. I'm confident enough to declare that I AM , indeed a DEDICATED EDUCATOR. And finally, anyone can be taught because learning is a process that should know no end.