Magnetism: The Key to Great Teaching
By J. Donald Walters
As I look back over the teachers that I have had, I see that the ones who made the most impression on me and on the students around me, were those teachers who were the most magnetic. They put out a kind of energy that drew us in. They were interested in their subject and put energy into it. They were interested in their students and put energy into them. There were other teachers who taught by rote and somehow did not come across in the same way. An interesting case involved those teachers who tried to play up to the students. In trying to become popular, they invariably became unpopular. Behind their backs the students would laugh because they really wanted somebody who was more focused on learning than personal popularity.
I remember one history teacher of mine at Haverford College. He was a great teacher. I think his name was William Lund. He hardly looked at the students and yet would give an absolutely perfect class. He was so well-organized that the moment the class stopped, the bell would ring. He didn't have that kind of rapport with the students that I am talking about, but he had so much interest in his subject that we became drawn in by his own fascination. So you see energy is the active ingredient. Energy is like electricity flowing through a wire, it generates a magnetic field. If the flow of the electricity is very strong, then the magnetic field is very strong also. And if the energy that you put out as a teacher, into your students, into your subject, or better still both together, then you will find that the children get magnetized even if it isn't a subject they would normally be interested in.
A teacher can magnetize a class in different ways. One is to feel the importance of these children, the importance of this period for their future growth. This is especially true in the early years of childhood when the personality is being formed and when children are developing the attitudes that will determine how they are going to grow. This interest in the students will keep you from talking down to them from a level of "Well I know all this, but I'll give you children a little bit of something here because you are too stupid to know anything more." It will be much better if you have a love for where they are, not so much as individuals-that can develop favoritism-but a love for childhood itself, and then childhood seen in all these different forms. The teachers that I have most respected have always been the ones who were less personal, who didn't have favorites but loved them all out of a more general goodwill.
A teacher can also generate energy through taking a difficult subject and striving to make it so simple that anyone can understand it. This is a challenge that can last a lifetime and one worthy of a philosopher. And yet I feel if you can't say something simply, then you haven't really understood it. You want to keep looking for better and better ways of presenting a subject until you get to the point where the child says "Well of course." There was a famous actress who at the end of her career was preparing for her final performance. Her fellow actors and actresses said, "Well today at least you can let your hair down." She said, "Oh no, I have one more chance to perfect it." That's how a teacher should approach every class.
Another way to magnetize your classes and your teaching is to keep studying the subject. Learn what other people are saying, writing and doing; be interested not only in the subject as a series of static facts, but rather as they relate to a growing reality. If you can help your students to relate what you are teaching to other realities in life, then you will be helping them and yourself toward maturity.
And finally I want to say that enthusiasm is a faculty of our own nature and is not dependent on a particular object. As Dale Carnegie put it, "Act enthusiastic and you'll be enthusiastic." If you put enthusiasm into what you are doing, you'll find more and more enthusiasm actually coming. So teach with enthusiasm, even if it is difficult to do sometimes. Find reasons to be enthusiastic, find those students who really respond.
J. Donald Walters is the author of more than 150 books and has written over 400 musical works. He is the founder of Ananda Village, one of the world's most successful intentional communities. "Living Wisdom" schools, based on the principles of his book "Education for Life," have been established in Nevada City, Palo Alto, and Portland.
By J. Donald Walters
As I look back over the teachers that I have had, I see that the ones who made the most impression on me and on the students around me, were those teachers who were the most magnetic. They put out a kind of energy that drew us in. They were interested in their subject and put energy into it. They were interested in their students and put energy into them. There were other teachers who taught by rote and somehow did not come across in the same way. An interesting case involved those teachers who tried to play up to the students. In trying to become popular, they invariably became unpopular. Behind their backs the students would laugh because they really wanted somebody who was more focused on learning than personal popularity.
I remember one history teacher of mine at Haverford College. He was a great teacher. I think his name was William Lund. He hardly looked at the students and yet would give an absolutely perfect class. He was so well-organized that the moment the class stopped, the bell would ring. He didn't have that kind of rapport with the students that I am talking about, but he had so much interest in his subject that we became drawn in by his own fascination. So you see energy is the active ingredient. Energy is like electricity flowing through a wire, it generates a magnetic field. If the flow of the electricity is very strong, then the magnetic field is very strong also. And if the energy that you put out as a teacher, into your students, into your subject, or better still both together, then you will find that the children get magnetized even if it isn't a subject they would normally be interested in.
A teacher can magnetize a class in different ways. One is to feel the importance of these children, the importance of this period for their future growth. This is especially true in the early years of childhood when the personality is being formed and when children are developing the attitudes that will determine how they are going to grow. This interest in the students will keep you from talking down to them from a level of "Well I know all this, but I'll give you children a little bit of something here because you are too stupid to know anything more." It will be much better if you have a love for where they are, not so much as individuals-that can develop favoritism-but a love for childhood itself, and then childhood seen in all these different forms. The teachers that I have most respected have always been the ones who were less personal, who didn't have favorites but loved them all out of a more general goodwill.
A teacher can also generate energy through taking a difficult subject and striving to make it so simple that anyone can understand it. This is a challenge that can last a lifetime and one worthy of a philosopher. And yet I feel if you can't say something simply, then you haven't really understood it. You want to keep looking for better and better ways of presenting a subject until you get to the point where the child says "Well of course." There was a famous actress who at the end of her career was preparing for her final performance. Her fellow actors and actresses said, "Well today at least you can let your hair down." She said, "Oh no, I have one more chance to perfect it." That's how a teacher should approach every class.
Another way to magnetize your classes and your teaching is to keep studying the subject. Learn what other people are saying, writing and doing; be interested not only in the subject as a series of static facts, but rather as they relate to a growing reality. If you can help your students to relate what you are teaching to other realities in life, then you will be helping them and yourself toward maturity.
And finally I want to say that enthusiasm is a faculty of our own nature and is not dependent on a particular object. As Dale Carnegie put it, "Act enthusiastic and you'll be enthusiastic." If you put enthusiasm into what you are doing, you'll find more and more enthusiasm actually coming. So teach with enthusiasm, even if it is difficult to do sometimes. Find reasons to be enthusiastic, find those students who really respond.
J. Donald Walters is the author of more than 150 books and has written over 400 musical works. He is the founder of Ananda Village, one of the world's most successful intentional communities. "Living Wisdom" schools, based on the principles of his book "Education for Life," have been established in Nevada City, Palo Alto, and Portland.