Educators - Nurturing mankind
There is an old theosophical saying, “When the student is ready, the teacher appears.” It is a vital concept to keep in mind when talking about personal change management. Considering that change is learning and learning is change, the teacher can facilitate successful change management. All the changes happen in student’s side by walking the path that is being laid, guided, mentored or facilitated by the teacher/educator. It is often said, “We think of teacher-heroes that taught us the academics, but we don’t often think of those teachers that taught us life’s lessons.” On that note, these illustrations are about six types of educators that you would come across (need) in your life to grow up in physical and spiritual world.
1. GURU
Guru is the Sanskrit word meaning 'dispeller of darkness' and the teacher is English. Guru is many things, including being a special teacher of skills, a counselor, one who helps in the birth of mind and the realization of one's soul, who instills values and experiential knowledge, an exemplar, an inspiration, who helps guide the spiritual development of a student, and who also has the power to develop such experiences of awakening in you (i.e. transmission). A real guru is one who knows the truth by learning it from another real guru, who has learned it from another real guru, and so on. A real Guru opens your mind, constructs you, makes you responsible for your growth, questions your answers, points the way and shows you where you stand in relation to the world. Guru may place significant demands on you to help you work through conceptual, emotional, or spiritual blocks that prevent you from a deeper level of experience. Change comes through your trust (or devotion) to your guru. This allows the formation of a deep emotional relationship, which becomes the means by which you open up to deeper levels of experience.
2. TEACHER
A teacher is a person who gives you a body of knowledge, skill and capability. Teachers are important in our lives, just like our parents. In doing everything, they teach us wisdom. They give moral support and encourage us to live in this society equally and to treat all equally. A teacher must have knowledge and experience to teach. As a student, your responsibility is to learn from the teacher. They teach us the importance of life and show us the right path for our survival in this society. Today, we should know that only a teacher can change the economic, moral and social life of an individual. We pay them respect and gratitude by giving them the gift of becoming a good human being. The teacher may touch the role of a coach or a therapist, but only to a limited extent. Change comes from your efforts to learn what the teacher teaches and to put it into practice. Therefore, teaching is said to be a profession that teaches and creates all other trades.
3. MENTOR
A mentor is an experienced, knowledged and trusted advisor. The relationship tends to be more long term, personal and dynamic. Mentoring is more development driven in a holistic approach. Where you learn specific areas of knowledge from a teacher, you learn how to implement that knowledge, how to live it, from a mentor. Outcome from a mentoring relationship can shift and change over time. Change in you comes from your listening carefully to your mentor’s experience and from the mentor creating opportunities for you to grow and develop. There is less interest in specific, measurable results or changed behavior and more interest in your overall development. In a crux, the three C’s of mentorship are Consultant, Counselor & Cheerleader. The few types of mentoring include traditional, peer, reverse, aspirational, coping, practical and identity.
4. COACH
A coach is a partner in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires you to maximize your personal and professional potential. Coach helps you change the way you behave, with the aim of making things more productive, more satisfying, less problematic, etc. The relationship is usually a short-term relationship with a specific outcome in mind. Duration is entirely based on the results achieved. They have a structured plan to train and improve you, and they are fully driven by performance. A coach is approached when you want to develop or enhance a new skill in a short period of time. The change comes from being willing to experiment with the different behaviors that your coach suggests. A coach, through a set of questions, makes important decisions, recognizes behavioral changes and takes action on the basis of what works for you.
5. GUIDE
A guide is a person who knows the territory, is able to find a path, and protects you, as much as possible, from danger on the path. A Guide is like having an expert witness. A guide is a good person to be with when you are going into to territory that is unknown or unfamiliar to you. Guides can come and go on your journey. Think of a river guide, or a mountain guide, or a guide that travels with you when you are exploring the wild or on a safari and then part ways to go on new adventures. Change comes from following your guide’s directions, not striking out on your own, but absorbing and learning from your guide until you know the territory and its challenges and can be guide yourself. One can be a guide in the physical reality, or one can have a guide in the spiritual reality.
6. SAGE
A Sage is someone revered for the possession of wisdom, judgement, and experience. Sages are considered the wordsmiths of the world, pragmatic and is beyond emotional attachments. They embody the essence of expressive communication. A sage preaches from a library of sacred ideas and beliefs. Sages have the natural inclination to teach, but their brand of teaching are usually not formal. They catch your attention which makes it hard for you not to listen. They are awakened and enlightened ones with a wonderful sense of humor. And while pointing out there’s only one truth, they don’t claim theirs is the only path to it. Change in oneself comes through your trust in their words, rituals, beliefs and using them to access what is in your heart ultimately.
A child, while coming into this world, knows nothing and develops a close connection with the mother, who teaches basic values and behaviour. Later in life, they grow up seeing, imbibing and learning everything from the environment & society. During this process, every person encounters a variety of educators who teach, inspire, guide, coach, preach etc. Educators have a very significant, lifelong impact on all of their students. By forging strong relationships, educators are able to affect virtually every aspect of their students’ lives, teaching them the important life lessons that will help them succeed beyond term papers, standardized tests or any kind of sport. Educators who help us grow as people are responsible for imparting some of life’s most important lessons. They possess the qualities of a "charismatic adult" who not only touches students' minds but also their spirits -- the way they see and feel about themselves for the rest of their lives. Such influence is truly a rare privilege that should be prized and nurtured.
