What is a Teacher?
Posted on September 26, 2015 by John Jaksich, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
An introspection on what it is to teach, and to learn from the point of view of a career life coach and yoga instructor.
As more and more of my professional & volunteer work is, or closely resembles teaching I’m starting to ask myself questions such as: What is the role of teacher? What do you teach? How do you teach it? Ultimately, what is a teacher?
The key words in Miriam Webster’s definition of teach include: to cause to know, to accustom to, to guide, to impart, to instruct, to make known…
Going further, I presuppose that if one is a teacher of Spanish or algebra there is an expectation that the teacher possesses a certain level of expertise in their respective subject matter area. But what about those of us that endeavor to teach about life? It’s only a fool who would claim a mastery of living; isn’t it? One of the things I teach is Yoga and while I feel competent and well equipped to teach the physical component of yoga, the Asanas; and can speak in some depth to the various yogic philosophies, I’m still given great pause when asked by a student to apply the philosophy to their own life. My thoughts go to my own teacher Suddha Weixler, who although extraordinarily well trained by virtue of trainings with both Pattabhi Jois & B.K.S. Iyengar and years spent in ashram, would always answer questions seeking a personal (to the student) interpretation of a philosophic principal the same way; “I’m not a Guru, I’m a yoga teacher.” And while on surface that answer may seem dismissive, I came to recognize it for what it truly was; a deep and abiding expression of humility. The answer was not intended to shut down the student, but rather to step aside and encourage the student to look to the source, the original writings & most importantly the students own Intuition.
As I evolve as a teacher, a coach, a public speaker I strive to maintain that same humility I learned from my teacher (I’m seldom successful, but I continue to try). I think Wayne Dyer hit the nail on the head in a 2005 interview where he said, “I really believe that God builds all the bridges, writes all the books, and delivers all the speeches. When I say God, again, I mean that source we all come from, we all are pieces of and we all are connected to.” So if we expand that thought to teaching all the lessons (all the lesson plans) come from Source. Our job as a teacher is simply to impart, to make known the lesson. We are just the conduit, not the electricity (Power).
And if as so commonly stated “experience is the best teacher” is true, the mission for an instructor gets even simpler. Point the student toward Source then step back and encourage the student’s own experience of that Source whether via direct communion, the world and the people around them, or the still, small voice within them.
Several other things I remember Suddha saying deepened my understanding of the importance of personal experience in the learning/teaching process. When asked, “How do we know what to teach?” He replied, “Teach what you do, and if you don’t do anything (in this context referring to a personal practice) what do you have to offer? Where is your authenticity? The student can read the book for themselves.” When asked, “How do you know how to describe a pose?” Suddha answered, “Do the pose, close your eyes, say out loud what you’re saying to yourself.” Both examples point to the significance of self-discovery in the both the teaching and the learning processes and illustrate the way of the true teacher; no pontification of one’s own “theory”, just a simple, humble, guiding hand ushering the student to their own discovery, to their own Source.
A couple more random takes on what it is to teach.
One) I love words and one of the words I love the most is divine, because it has several meanings: the adjective – divine – of, from, or like God; the noun – the Divine – God; and most interestingly the verb – to divine – to discover (something) by guesswork or intuition, to discover (water) by dowsing.
We divine water to find the source for a well from which we can draw what we need. Perhaps that is the role of the life teacher; to find, to divine the Source (the Divine) and to guide the student there so that they may draw what they need. Two) This may feel like a huge departure from the theme of this article, but please bear with me. I never really liked my first name – John. In 1960, the year I was born, it was the third most popular boy’s name; being one of thousands a perceived insult to my individuality. John is also a slang term for both bathroom and for one who procures the services of a prostitute and presumably seeking anonymity identifies himself as John; again insulting my sense of self. However I recently gained a new appreciation for my name by way of a chance encounter with a construction worker on a street I often walk down. The man, a later came to know as Don, was chatty so we got to dialoguing a bit every time I walked by. On the second or third day our conversation ran on a little longer and I got the sense he was a deeply spiritual individual. As I was preparing to move on I offered him my hand and said, “My name is John”. He gave his own name, paused, and said, “John, that’s a good name; John the messenger”.It has since dawned on me that maybe that’s what a teacher is, one who delivers a message. It’s not my message. The message come from Source, I just deliver it.
John the messenger, hmm… I can work with that.
