On Teaching

Wikipedia defines a teacher as a person who provides education for pupils or students, often in a formal and ongoing manner, carried out at a school or another place for formal education. (I know, you may cringe at the Wikipedia citation.)

I've never really regarded myself as a teacher as the job description seems to entail massive responsibility -- to educate, at a formal institution at that. Yet since 2009, I've been a lecturer at one of the premier universities in the Philippines at its European Studies Program. Lecturer refers more to an academic rank -- an entry level designation among those who could eventually become professors. I initially handled a class on cross-cultural communications but more recently, I have been handling the political economic and business relations of Asia and Europe.


I never thought I'd be a teacher.  I never even dreamed of being one.

Until I realized teaching provides plenty of opportunities.

Teaching provides immense opportunities to learn and share. For me, the bottomline is for students to take something with them - a learning, a realization, new knowledge. They should be richer individuals after our course. As the teacher, I have the chance to share my thoughts and insights with the students, and I can guide them and impart practically everything I've learned through the years as applicable. And this is not limited to facts and figures but in terms of skills like communication and analysis, and most especially world views and mindsets.

I think mindset is one of my favorite words. It's just the tint that changes everything we encounter.

And teachers have the chance to guide students to think for themselves on the appropriate lens to have in life, or at least, for that chosen class topic.  I think, that opportunity is priceless.

Apart from giving, teaching also allows me to gain and practice. I gain the insights of young people, a glimpse into their world. I gain from the challenge of dealing with diverse personalities, competencies and motivations all at the same time. I gain 3 hours of practicing my public speaking and facilitation skills. And during those three hours, I learn to mediate debates among the students, and with myself.

All of these gains make the long preparations worth it. It takes long because I prefer updated references and I prefer to know my sources inside out. Then I like to complement them with contemporary issues because I am peeved by book-smart folks trapped in the page instead of grounded in reality. That's why I try to make the class as well-rounded as possible, it ceases to be a mere lecture.

Yesterday, my Saturday routine began again. And as much as teaching was never my dream, I am glad I stumbled upon this opportunity to share. Teaching is a gift I will always be thankful for.