![\"Chris](\"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/ChrisMares-150x150.jpg\")
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Teaching is necessarily dependent on a knowledge base and an array of skills that need to be practiced and internalized over time.\u00a0 Certainly we can be \u2018trained\u2019 as teachers in a mechanical and procedural sense but this is not enough to become \u2018whole\u2019 as a teacher.\u00a0 We also need to develop authentic relationships with ourselves, our colleagues, and those we teach.\u00a0 To be whole as teachers, we must be whole as people – we must love ourselves, forgive ourselves, and accept ourselves.\u00a0 I don\u2019t believe this notion of wholeness can be taught but I do believe it can come over time and for each teacher the time it takes will vary.<\/p>\n
A whole teacher not only has all the knowledge and skills necessary to teach, they also have something more.\u00a0 They have \u2018presence\u2019, a complex quality, which is dependent upon a particular way of being.\u00a0 The Whole Teacher is present reflectively and authentically.\u00a0 She or he is mindful, sensitive and aware, open and adaptable.<\/p>\n
In order to become present it is necessary to let go of many things, especially those that interfere with the process of teaching or learning.\u00a0 A list might include fears, anxieties and the need to be right or in control.\u00a0 This letting go process takes time and requires mindfulness.<\/p>\n
Beginning teachers understandably spend a lot of time consumed by their own anxieties and fears which can range from concerns about having enough material, issues regarding classroom management, whether a class will go well, and whether students will like and respect them.\u00a0 This is natural and is part of the process of becoming a teacher, but too much concern can deplete the presence of the teacher and therefore negatively interfere with the essential experience of teaching and learning.<\/p>\n
At a basic level teaching is a form of performance in the same way that improv and stand up comedy are performances.\u00a0 A successful performance depends on a keen sensitivity to the audience, an ability to change direction or dwell on a potentially fruitful moment.\u00a0 Teaching is about making choices sequentially in real time and then reacting to the consequences of making a particular choice.\u00a0 It is not a lock step process.\u00a0 Opportunities arise and when they do we should take them.\u00a0 By performance, I don\u2019t mean the adoption of a role that isn\u2019t authentic to the teacher but being present in a heightened way.\u00a0 Much like a good storyteller who, by being present, transforms a story, making it memorable and meaningful on a new level.\u00a0\u00a0 The Whole Teacher does this, too.<\/p>\n
Teaching is relational and depends on trust and connection with students.\u00a0 It requires consistency, reliability, and a degree of unpredictability.\u00a0 In short, teaching is an art and as such it takes time and effort to become as good as you can be.\u00a0 To be The Whole Teacher you have to go on the journey and part of the beauty and pleasure of it is that you never \u2018get there\u2019 as it is a process of becoming, of unfolding.<\/p>\n
When I work with new teachers I find that one of the most reassuring messages that I can give is that it is perfectly fine to not know something or to be uncertain about something.\u00a0 What is important is how we react to our own not knowing or uncertainty.\u00a0 When asked a tricky grammar question by a student, it is far more productive to admit you don\u2019t know the answer and clearly state that you know where you can find the answer and that you will.\u00a0 Following through and offering the answer or explanation creates trust and builds the connection.\u00a0 This is the type of step that a teacher needs to take and to become comfortable with in order to develop presence.<\/p>\n
Another \u2018permission\u2019 that is always received well by trainee teachers is the permission to be yourself as a teacher.\u00a0 You are who you are.\u00a0 Know yourself.\u00a0 It is not possible to teach authentically trying to be someone else.\u00a0 We should learn from others, borrow techniques, emulate certain behaviors and practices but as ourselves.<\/p>\n
In order to be present we have to listen and observe and we have to do it empathetically and sympathetically. \u00a0To do this meaningfully, it is worth putting oneself in the student\u2019s shoes.\u00a0 For example, I know how cognitively demanding and also physically exhausting learning a new language can be, but it wasn\u2019t until I recently began attending the Monday lunchtime \u2018French Table\u2019 at the University of Maine, where interested parties could bring their lunch and practice French, that I was reminded of how draining it is to try to drag vocabulary from the recesses of your mind or respond to questions you only partially understand.<\/p>\n
We are not static entities.\u00a0 Our lives unfold, we are socialized, educated, we work, patterns develop, possibilities occur, mistakes are made, our bodies change, and, over time, we get to the place we are now.\u00a0 We are a process in process.\u00a0 The Whole Teacher develops presence during this process through mindfulness.\u00a0 This mindfulness comes from a stepping back and letting go of anxieties and fears.\u00a0 It relies on trust, honesty, acceptance, forgiveness, the maintenance of authentic relationships and an unflagging belief in the fact that what we do is worth doing.<\/p>\n
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Connect with Chris and other iTDi Associates, Mentors, and Faculty by joining iTDi Community. Sign Up For A Free iTDi Account<\/a> to create your profile and get immediate access to our social forums and trial lessons from our English For Teachers<\/a> and Teacher Development<\/a> courses.<\/p>\n The Whole Teacher: A Process In Process\u00a0\u2013 Chris Mares Teaching is necessarily dependent on a knowledge base and an array of skills that need to be practiced and internalized over time.\u00a0 Certainly we can be \u2018trained\u2019 as teachers in a mechanical and procedural sense but this is not enough to become \u2018whole\u2019 as a teacher.\u00a0 … Continue reading The Whole Teacher – Chris<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":4119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-whole-teacher"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4109\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Like what we do? Become an iTDi Patron<\/a>.
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