Heart4kidsadvocacyforum's Blog

What does it take and whom must you be to serve children as their teacher?

You must be humble of Spirit and character.

Children are by their very nature humble of spirit and it resonates with them to engage with and interact with others that match their energy.  There needs to be a gentle, soft, trustworthy fabric in the nature of a teacher.  This does not mean that children automatically will see our tenderness and humility as a weakness.  A bodacious arrogant spirit in a teacher is a signal for a child that this individual is not approachable and might even be seen as indifferent to the needs of a child.  Children tend to shy away from adults that see themselves as more than the children they are to be in service to.  They see a humble yet confident person as someone they can count on for support, guidance, and friendship. 

To be humble of spirit takes a lot of good self-esteem because there this is not contest, to try to prove anything to anyone.  The only obligation you have as a teacher is to develop a healthy, kind, and respectful relationship with your students.  When you are grounded in who you are and what you have to offer children, you can relax and be your authentic self.  One of the beautiful benefits of being humble in the presence of children is that it gives children an opportunity to feel like they are co-learners with their teacher and that there is still always more truth and knowledge to discovered and learned. 

What an exciting this journey as a teacher can be.   We want our children -students in our care to find us approachable knowing that they are special to us and that we genuinely care about them.  This intentional commitment to be humbled by the gift of being in service to children goes a long way with them and their family.  To be humble is to be gracious.  To be gracious is to be non-judgmental.  To be non-judgmental is to be open and receptive to and for other people.  To be open and receptive are essential character traits that children need from a teacher.  We are building a bond that will have an impression on them perhaps for a life time.