BEING AND BECOMING A MASTER TEACHER: TEACHING AS TRANSFORMATION

A teacher’s prime directive is to help students learn or more accurately, to create the conditions whereby students are able to learn. So, what is learning? Learning is the process of acquiring new knowledge and skills. But simply having new knowledge and skills are of little value if they cannot be used. Thus, learning also involves the ability to use new knowledge and skills to solve problems or create products. However, learning also involves new insight. Thus, learning might also be said to include making new connections between pieces of knowledge or different experiences in order to bring about new understanding, new insight, or change.

All well and good, but what is the highest form of teaching?

The highest form of teaching is Teaching as transformation.

This view perceives teaching as creating conditions that have the potential to transform the learner on many different levels (cognitive, emotional, social, intuitive, creative, spiritual, and other). Transformational teach­ing invites both students and teachers to discover their full potential as learners, as members of society, and as human beings. The ultimate transformational goal is to become more nurturing human beings who are better able to perceive the interconnectedness of all human, plant, and animal life (Narve, 2001). Holistic education is an educational philosophy consistent with the transformative view (Miller, 1996). Learning is said to have occurred when these experiences elicit a transformation of consciousness that leads to a greater understanding of and care for self, others, and the environment. Academic achievement from this perspective is seen as discovering and developing your unique talents and capabilities to the fullest extent possible. Academic achievement also involves becoming aware of the multiple dimensions of self and expanding one’s consciousness.