Its been 22 years since I taught in any school anywhere. (I can reliably count from when daughter Zion was born because that’s when I quit teaching so I could be a full-time parent to our second premature baby!) In those 22 years, I have taught children, teenagers and adults at church, I’ve done the odd bit of tutoring and lectures, and of course, teaching never stops when you’re a parent to too many children in your own house. But official TEACHER at a school? No, it’s been a very long time. Lately, I’ve been thinking random thoughts about teaching. Why?
- Because I watched a video of my amazing friend’s brilliant speech on teachers – and was moved and inspired by it. (Thank you Aeau Chris Hazelman, CEO for Education, for the reminder of why be a teacher.)
- Because of Dad. Because of all the different hats that he wore, the one that best fit him, I think, the most constant and enduring for him, was that of teacher. It didnt matter if he was teaching kids, grandchildren, secondary school science students, agriculture students at university, Sunday School, Russians in Siberia how to speak English, farmers how to grow things better, or helping returned missionaries further their education and job opportunities – dad was forever a teacher. Primarily i think, because he was always a learner. Always wanting to learn more, know more, ask more questions, find out more, about anything and everything. The best teachers are the ones who know they don’t know everything, and are always searching and questioning.
- Because I’m spending a lot of time with these triathletes. Who all happen to be teenagers, ie young people. (I’m not counting that man who lives in the same house as me, the number one triathlete that I spend time with 😉). I’m kind of a Team Manager who also happens to be a coach on a lot of the days. Simply because their coaches live overseas and we rely on their online awesomeness to guide our squad. So I’m the in-person person. I’ve never been a coach before. It’s rather laughable to even put that word next to my name in any capacity, considering how me and sports loathe each other! But anyway, being this person who supports and sort of guides athletes, is a lot like being a teacher. Needing to be firm and sometimes “severe strict”, but also, being nice and encouraging, motivational? It’s a tricky balance. I often feel quite bad at it. I worry that I’m not mean enough and as a result, these athletes aren’t going to push hard enough. And it will be all my fault that they dont make the most of their amazing gifts. Because these kids are so very talented at this stuff. Give them enough time, resources, money, international races, proper teaching, and they will be Olympic triathletes for sure.
But back to me. Because this is #allAboutMe dammit and my ruminating thoughts today 🤪
I worry that I don’t know enough about running or swimming or biking, so what am I doing?! I don’t like being that person who expects her students to DO things that she can’t do herself. When I was in the classroom, I modelled how to write an essay, how to critique a poem, how to give a speech. Walked my students thru the steps then let them do it themselves. I made sure they KNEW their teacher was rather amazing at everything English related 😎.
But when I’m in charge of a swim session, I hate that I can’t actually DO all the swim myself. The whole “lead by example” vibe is missing. It makes me feel inadequate. I don’t like feeling like I’m not the best at something 🤣. I realise that I want to teach from a position of superiority 😂 Which is actually a bad thing. DUH LANI! Because isn’t that the opposite of what my Dad modeled for me all the time? He made sure we knew that he didn’t know everything. And that was OK. That we were on this learning road together.
So yes, I’m learning a LOT by being a Team Manager/Coach. About triathlon. About what it means to be an athlete. About the incredible work that goes into one’s sport, from not just the athlete but also their family network. About sports administration and what a tangled mess that is. About the injustice and shitty inequity of international sport. And Im learning heaps about myself.
Maybe I’m not such a bad coach/manager teacher after all.
Lani Wendt Young 