The Hands of the Teacher




After 30 years ('57-'86) in the classroom I


am convinced that the personal example the


teacher sets before the student is the


single most important reason learning


occurs. Example offers a behavioral


definition of character that may determine


a student's perception of his own value,


the value of others, and reciprocal rights


and responsibilities. Since emulation is


both an early and an on-going learning


method and because everyone passes through


the hands of the teacher, the example of


the teacher-leader is, I believe, funda-


mental to the successful human experience.




When standards are personalized and


manifest in teacher conduct, the student's


perception of other criteria for measuring


other values and options prior to decision-


making becomes more and more comprehensible.


Such a comprehension may be considered


critical to the student's personal ability


to anticipate consequence of choice and


ensure survival and progression.




Because decision-making is the proper


domain of the mind in the hierarchy of the


individual person (spirit/mind/body), it


is essential that enlarged opportunities


for observation and awareness be encouraged


and available. Such opportunities go far


toward raising the qualitative level of


selectivity on the part of the student.





Additionally, because selection occupies


the fulcrum point of the creative process


in the individual, it is essential that


criteria be available to the intellect of


the student in order that evaluation and


progress will occur.




We are reminded that the unique individual


person is the basic unit of value and a


prime source of social values in a free


society.




Consistent with a criteria concept and


personalized value definition, the


individual student should continually


experience high levels of challenge,


expectation, and goal orientation,


eliciting and reinforcing standards of


excellence. Such a conceptual environment


teaches, encourages, and reinforces valid


self-esteem.




It is thus that the teacher completes the


appropriate fulfillment of his/her role:


Enabling the student to become a self-


directed, responsible, choice-maker in


freedom.




James Fletcher Baxter


choice.maker@verizon.net


http://www.geocities.com/James-Baxter/