What You Are Thinking...

Your Thinking Makes You What Your Are

A young Nursery teacher (children ages 4-5) told me yesterday that what makes a great teacher is to be crazy about what you are doing--TEACHING!  It is not just a profession, using my words, it must be your passion!  To explicate, she said, "Your thinking makes you what you are!" something she learned in the early childhood education program at Luteete Teacher's College here in Kampala.  

If you love to teach, you become a good teacher.  Let me delve into that further:  if you love to teach, you are happy when you are around children, they sense it and are their happiest ---and best behavior.  You have begun relationship building.  

The concept of emotional thought, an understanding of the brain's processing, speaks to this phenomenon.  If we are happy, rested, at ease, full of joy, we are more likely to be attentive to others, acutely sensorily aware, creative, responsive to others, problem-solvers--- all things that make us pleasant to be around. 

On the other hand, if we are filled with fear, anger, stress, our frontal cortex shuts down and we risk being disengaged, unthinking, inattentive, disorganized and unresponsive.  

If you love to teach, you prepare so that children's time is well-spent.  If you love to teach, you want to know what each child needs and you work hard until you can facilitate their learning through discovery.  

If you love to teach, you continuously teach and reflect, teach and reflect to learn what is working, what methods are not, and how to improve in your teaching practice--- and not just once, when you begin your career, but everyday, lifelong.  

From a personal slant, as she said those words, I was struck by the many emotions I have experienced since I arrived in Uganda:  joy, anticipation, awe and wonder, fear, frustration, annoyance, disappointment.  I think that when I step into a teaching/observing/learning mode, I regulate my emotion and give to the children or students, but inside, I know this is false reflection.  I want to only share joy with the teachers and children I meet.  The only way I can overcome the negative feelings is by building a stronger faith in God's love for me.  That is a lifelong task:  with every new experience, a new understanding can occur if we let it.  

I was reminded of the biblical guidance of Paul:  "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything is worthy of praise, dwell on these things.  These things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me.  Practice these things and the God of peace will be with you (Phil. 4: 8-9).

I forget who wrote that the West can learn from Africa how to live with religious diversity.  I am amazed not at the conflict here, but the peace, if not mutual respect.   It tickled me that this same Muslim woman sang with the children --- and taught me-- a new song:

J is for Jesus

and O is for others

And Y Y Y is for 

U U U

And the word is JOY!