What makes you teacher? I think just living makes you a teacher. It might sound absurd, but please let me elaborate. Do you need to hold a degree to teach? Not at all. Some would say that you would require the necessary pedagogy to instruct. However, that's an old myth. And forgive my next appreciation, but I hold enough authority in this regard; for, I'm what some people consider a "real" teacher just because I hold a degree in teaching. So, does it diminish the quality of teaching from another professional who didn't go through the teaching coaching?
Of course, no!
I've implied in other posts that pedagogy is somehow rigid nowadays, which doesn't let teachers open their views and embrace diverse approaches.
So, anyone doesn't need to have a degree in teaching to practice successfully the profession. If fact, all of us do it every day. But we don't wear the teacher suit because we do it incognito.
Self-educating
You always teach yourself. Through experiences you learn and adapt to fit into different situations. Each human being in his right mind gets insights from any action. You couldn't be aware of it, but something always sticks. And then as you go, and face similar experiences you act accordingly to what you already know because you are basing your actions on previous situations that generated some of kind learning.
And you, as a thinking person, can figure out valuable aspects. So new information is processed by your brain. Just like a child, as long as we live and breath, we are absorbing information consciously and unconsciously.
That's how we grow. There are learning all around. Some are good and some are not. This is the precise moment when we need to have a good discernment to choose which one is the most valuable.
You teach the people around you
The first teachers are parents. They begin the initial instructions. Some of them may get scared by the fact that they know they have to inspire and form their children with dignity and principles. So they could wonder if they got what it takes to be up to such labor.
And whatever it turns out to be, they end up teaching. There is no where else to go. The main point is that regardless the value of their teachings, they show their children a way of life, where manners and demeanor are passed. This is perceived as a natural course from parents to children, but it is the education that flows smoothly into the Psyche.
The other people you teach are your fellows. They absorb from you what they see and feel. That's how you create a concept of yourself by projecting your personality and inner being. And when you do that, the people around assess you as a person, and devise references to compare you to other individuals.
The reluctant teacher
Even when we don't want to teach, we wind up giving in. Have you ever thought how many times you have denied to do something for you or for someone else, only to discover later on that life makes you do it anyway?
All of us have gone through this. As I've explained above, we teach ourselves everyday. When we encounter something that is challenging us, we face it. Otherwise, we just let ourselves be crushed by the hard situations.
But if we decide to go on, it means we have to learn how to deal with problems. And by learning, we self-educate ourselves. And with every bit of stumble we get feedback which we use for our own benefits.
Therefore, as you can see, everyone is an educator to oneself and to one another.
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