And most of all, where does it come from?
When defining “quality education”, some people say it’s how well their children can recite the multiplication table by memory. Especially in the Philippines, Filipinos believe that the mark of quality education is how well their child can solve Math problems and read. (Take note, there is a difference in being able to read and being able to comprehend.)
But is education just about that? Is it all just about dumping all that information into your child’s head without checking if they get it or not?
The answer is no.
There is more to education than just dispensing information, for education involves forming the whole person, rather than just the mind. However, for this to happen, a great teacher has to be there, to help students develop the will to learn. After all, learning, and by extension, education, is a conscious decision made by the learner. Here’s what sets quality teachers apart from dispensers of information.
Quality Teachers Are Those Who Emancipate Their Students
The teacher’s role is to develop in the student the desire to learn
Quality Teachers are those who emancipate their students, at least as far as the French philosopher Jacques Ranciere is concerned. This is because anyone can explicate information, which is why professors are hired for their intellect. However, if teaching is done through explication alone, then the intellect of the student is stunted, for it is subordinated to that of the teacher. Quality teachers, on the other hand, are those who awaken the passion of their students, by inspiring them to learn and providing the proper atmosphere. As a result, quality teachers emancipate their students by allowing them to develop the will to learn.
Quality Teachers Care for Their Students
Quality Teachers show personal care to their students
Another thing that sets quality teachers apart is their care for their students. This personal care allows them to continue developing themselves, to become the best teachers they can be. This sets them apart from explicators, like certain college professors who prefer research for its own sake. In this case, if a professor wants to be a quality teacher, then he/she should consider research in his/her field to be merely a means to an end, which is learning what is there to teach.
Personal care allows teachers to go the extra mile as well, since it is what drives them to put emancipation of their students, which leads to their growth, which is the ultimate objective of learning. After all, what drives learning is love, provided that teachers remain professional at the same time.
Quality Teachers are Driven by Love
Just like what the song says, All You Need is Love
Finally, what sets quality teachers apart is not just their empowering of students,personal care, or even knowledge, but their love for their calling, and their love for their students. This is because anyone can be an explicator, provided that he/she is good in a certain field, which is the standard of hiring in the academe.
However, knowledge in a certain area is not enough to make one a quality teacher, for a quality teacher synthesizes knowledge, pedagogy, and even love into his/her passion to bring out the best in students.
This is why AHEAD utilizes a rigorous screening process for tutors, for AHEAD looks at its tutors as forming the leaders of tomorrow, which is the greatest act of love, for it is the kind of love that makes an impact on future generations. After all, being a positive impact on the lives of future leaders will allow them to spread the love to everyone.
Completed and Revised from a draft by Kevyn Gohu