Teachers hold themselves to a high standard. When teachers hold themselves to a high standard, they can form children into Christlikeness. We must embody what we want the students to become. Money gets in the way, so we need to accept that teachers aren’t paid well, some say. To which I respond, Yes! and then ask, Where’s the compassion? For educators today, we need expectations with compassion. And a livable wage.
If we held ourselves to high expectations–while also having compassion for ourselves–it would be easier for us to build the character of students. We would have less fatigue.
Forming Character
All students, not just Christian students, benefit when teachers strive to form them in Christlikeness. We wouldn’t call it Christlikeness, of course. It would just be selflessness, humility, generosity of spirit, being healing/a healer. These are things that are intrinsic to humankind when we humans are at our best.
But maybe these high expectations, however, are why there’s such a teacher shortage.
We need to take the five senses into account in the classroom because they form students. We need to protect children from what might be intuited via those senses.
Teachers need to listen carefully to what students say. We need to make sure they are kind and helpful, rather than bullying or mean. As teachers we simply must hold ourselves to high expectations, and yet with gentleness. Finally, when teachers don’t intervene when students are developing a social media addiction or are cruel online, we damage our moral authority.
Expectations with Compassion
We place high expectations on teachers and for good reason, but we also need to be realistic and loving. We need expectations with compassion.
Teaching is such a hard profession. It is hard to imagine a teacher who doesn’t need to improve on self-love and self-acceptance. In a way, our image of God, if we see God as cruel and judging us, also influences how hard we may be on ourselves for our failings as teachers. We need the right motivation for excellence or it will leave us hollow. I will write more about this in the weeks ahead.
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