My ethos for teaching

The first time I saw my water colour paintings on display in an exhibition I experienced a real sense of pride and excitement. I walked into the gallery, and there they were - with my name on them for all to see. I felt similar pride the first time I heard one of my own studio recordings being played on radio. The excitement was repeated the first time I heard one of my compositions being performed (with full orchestration) by another artist on record. Later, I was delighted to hear yet another of my compositions being played as a background theme for a television programme. It was only a local TV information update, but it was replayed many times that year and the royalty cheques I received from PRS were very nice indeed. I think I bored everyone silly when my first book was published. I talked of little else for an entire week.

I felt this pride and excitement, because my own ideas and creativity, which I had worked so hard on, and had poured my heart and soul into, were now out there in the open, being appreciated by others. I had shared my mind for others to experience. I discovered though, that this was just the start - and that involving others in my creative ideas could be even more rewarding.

In the late 1980s, I took over the running of a youth group and formed a dance and drama group. One of the highlights of my youth leadership was when my group performed a dance routine that I had choreographed. It was incredibly rewarding to sit at the back of the hall, and watch as my young people excelled themselves in their dance routine, with the music, lighting and performance space all combining to showcase their talents.

It was around that time that something significant happened in my life. It dawned on me that I wanted to be a teacher. I had discovered a taste for developing excellence in the learning and performance of others. I had come to a realisation that creativity is not something you individually own. It is also something you share with others so that it can also support their own individual journeys. When the crowd applauded and cheered my young dance group, I experienced a different kind of pride and excitement than that which I had achieved with my own expressions of creativity. It was more fulfilling. I felt the reflected glory of others and what they had achieved, through their interpretation of my creative ideas, and through my efforts working with them. This for me, even today, is one of the most rewarding aspects of being a teacher. It is to watch as my own learners succeed - to reach out and achieve their dreams, and to be who they really wish to be. How will you share your creativity this year to facilitate learning for others?

Photo by Laffy4k


My ethos for teaching by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.