Teaching

I'm taking a class at BYU on how to teach German as a foreign language. The Instructor Dr. Randall Lund is having us read Parker J. Palmer's The Courage to Teach. I'm just getting into the book. Palmer argues that good teaching comes from who we are. He says that good teachers let themselves come through in their teaching.

I was a missionary in Southern Germany from 1998-2000 for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 2005, while on an Internship in Europe, I returned to some of the congregations I'd served in as a missionary. I was struck by that fact that some people, though I'd been in their homes, did not remember me. For me, my mission was a defining experience. I can still remember the people, places and experiences vividly. The feelings I felt are still close to my heart. I believe one reason I remembered the people better than they remembered me is because I was being molded by the intensity of my experiences. The mission was hard for me. I thought of my mission when Palmer told of two disparate teachers in his first chapters. I think that in many respects, I was like the teacher who was never comfortable in his own skin. Eric was ashamed of his past. He did his best to hide it. The conflict of his divided identity manifest itself in his teaching. I agree with Palmer. Good teaching is what we are. I want to be that teacher.

Dr. Lund asked the question today, "what are you afraid of?" Apparently, our fears dictate how we teach. I feel I'm less prepared that I should be. I struggle to measure up to what I think I should be, or where I want to be academically. I haven't dedicated as much time as I would like to academics. I want to learn languages, and cultures. I want to be well-prepared to do the work that God has called me to do.

Doctrine and Covenants 88:78-80

78 Teach ye diligently and my ^agrace shall attend you, that you may be ^binstructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand;

79 Of things both in ^aheaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must ^bshortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the ^cnations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a ^dknowledge also of countries and of kingdoms—

80 That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to ^amagnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the ^bmission with which I have commissioned you.

I want to teach. Do I have what it takes? It demands preparation, and perfect love.