Lessons of Life

I wrote a blog more than a year ago about my desire to become a teacher.

I told you guys how excited I was to have discovered that it might be my calling, and that I was going to start the process of getting certified. And I received nothing but well wishes and encouragement. 

Well, I'm here to tell you all that I lied. I lied to myself thinking that teaching a government-mandated education would satisfy me. I lied to myself thinking that teachers are only in classrooms. I lied to myself thinking ... I wasn't a teacher already. 

I lied to myself because I didn't know any better at the time. (Blogs really do an excellent job of showing you just how much you've grown.)

As some of you may know, I am constantly in a state of learning. I read a lot, I watch plenty of documentaries, and I spend plenty of time in my head. I also interact with like-minded people, who arguably I attract because of my inquisitive energy. When I say like-minded, by the way, I don't necessarily mean someone who agrees with all of my opinions. I mean someone who's equally yoked in terms of their passion for seeking higher consciousness, learning more and desiring to see/make a change in the world. 

In my quest for higher learning, the real kind not the systematic kind, I realized that traditional "teaching" probably isn't for me at all. Yes, it's still an opportunity to direct a generation of people toward mental freedom, but I'm not sure how happy I'd be being forced to basically train children to be employees (slaves). While I'd never deny the importance of the discipline children learn from the school system, I'm not sure that there's much else I can positively say about what school, at least in Florida, does to benefit a person's intellect, let alone teach them how to THINK -- not just DO. 

They say we all learn differently, but that isn't reflected much by the standardized tests, like FCAT, that we use to measure a child's intelligence (or otherwise destroy their confidence). It isn't measured in the conformity of methods that teachers are required to use to get students to simply do what they say, and stop them from asking why they can't do it another way. It isn't measured by the fact that most children don't learn or retain much of anything beyond maybe primary school, other than how to cheat or memorise. (I can't remember learning anything in high school.) Granted, learning how to cheat & memorise will be useful in your quest to define your intelligence based on a grading scale, but it has never and will never be enough to define your intelligence based on your ability to simply think critically. And as my college professor said "if you still haven't learned how to cheat without getting caught, then you deserve to be caught".

Work smart, not hard -- right?

Most adults can't even handle my unconventional thoughts, so the amount of filtering I'd have to do to myself just to ensure I don't get fired would be far too much of a task that I'm not sure I'm open to taking on. It's not to say I don't have a tremendous amount of respect for teachers, because if you do it right you will create a generation of thinkers. (I basically owe most of my thirst for knowledge to my teachers, so it does happen). And I still do think they deserve much more prestige and honour than they get. But I just think my calling is a little bigger and broader than that. (Though the extensive vacation periods are still quite appealing.) I feel like going into teaching was my taking the easy way out. 

And I've never been one to do things just because they're easy.