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Hernando Today

Teachers Make A Difference

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By DOMENICK J. MAGLIO, Neo Traditionalist

Hernando Today

Published: August 29, 2008

Money will not solve our lack of educational excellence. America's educational system is not performing well even with a 50 percent increase, adjusted for inflation, in funding over the past 20 years.
We have a national dropout rate of 25 percent and 50 percent in many of our large cities. One third of fourth-graders cannot read. On international test scores, American students score in the middle as compared to students across the world.
Although we have serious systemic problems in U.S. education, it would be foolish to disregard the immense impact many teachers have on children. Almost all of us can reflect on our past, naming a teacher, who had made a significant improvement in the direction of our lives. Other than parents and other relatives, teachers, especially with school beginning so early in life, have more exposure and involvement to affect the development of the thinking, feeling and behaving of a child. Our media culture is motivated and effective at sensationalizing sexually and physically abusive teachers while ignoring the good works of the hardworking majority of teachers.
It would not be newsworthy to highlight good teachers since we always expect teachers to "do the right thing" for children. It is not only the public who have little appreciation for teachers, teachers themselves are the last to know how a lesson, a statement, a smile or pat on the back or an act of kindness might have clicked in a child's mind. Even the child might not be able to pinpoint the importance of a particular teacher until years later when the face of the teacher pops into the brain.
Teachers are almost always surprised when a student comes back to thank them for something they did to change the child's future. "Thank you for believing in me and being a stickler that I could do things right so I could learn to do math, learn to write or comprehend what I am reading." The caring and sharing of better ways of tackling an academic skill or viewing a social or emotional roadblock offers teachers a powerful platform for good.
Teachers make a difference in many lives although without any internal gauge to measure the effectiveness of their actions. Year after year teachers practice the art of teaching, knowing on some level they are doing God's work. Yes, they receive praise and gifts from students and parents, but they will never be certain of the extent of their true importance to the individual student.
Surprisingly, teachers receive some of the most powerful testimonials from students with whom they had minimal direct involvement. On the other hand, they receive little or no acknowledgement or even are demeaned by students and parents to whom they have given the most of their time and energy.
The wisdom, kindness and truth that teachers share with their students is a present. A gift that comes from the heart without any expectations of anything in return except students doing their best is powerful motivation. On the contrary, when an educator states she is the reason for the student's improvement, the child believes the teacher, not his own effort is the reason for his doing better. In the eyes of the student, this particular teacher takes on magical powers to get him to learn. Genuine teachers always give credit for a student's advancement where it belongs: the student.
Teachers are on a spiritual journey that should not be measured with dollars or status. It should be viewed as a great opportunity for a teacher to make a difference in many lives. Good teachers are grateful for their position even though they never can be certain of the depth of the change they make in students. Committed educators deserve all the accolades for they are the most important ingredient in quality education.
Support of our teachers is essential for the well being of a strong America. Educators should be recognized for the great work they do. It is teachers doing all the little things to help the students, day after day, that gives the educator the credibility to transform lives. Teachers enrich the lives of many during their careers, producing well-adjusted and educated citizens necessary for the functioning of a democratic republic.

Dr. Domenick J. Maglio, Ph.D., is the author of "Invasion Within" and "Essential Parenting." He is a psychotherapist and the owner/director of Wider Horizons School. Visit: www.drmaglio.com.

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