How I Came To Be A Teacher

How I Came To Be A Teacher

If you had told the young 18 year old boy, Paul Girdwood that one day he would have become a teacher, that young man would have thought you had lost your marbles! Being a teacher was so far down the choice of professions I never gave it a second thought. I was not alone, I don't think one of my fellow St Andrews College year 2000 classmates went the "teacher route"at varsity. Being a teacher just wasn't rock star, a very tough sell to your mates that are all studying Bcomm Accounting/Law/financial management. No... teaching in my minds eye meant driving a banged up car, eating meals with schoolboys and generally living just above the bread line for the rest of your existence! There was also the dull continuous nag from my Father to consider teaching as a profession. For years this conversation played out between us and for all that time I thought it was my father trying to vicariously live through me; attempting to change decisions he made and regretted in his life.(My Dad would have loved to have been in the world of academia which he often states openly.) I was convinced this was the case which made me very anti the idea of teaching, ever.

The above look into my thinking at that stage of my life highlights the bad reputation teaching has as a profession in South Africa. It also shows how society post the industrial revolution has been all about the big corporate job and the way that has defined how people choose the degree they study and the work they do. Money, social standing(approval) first, passion, quality of life, happiness, sure when the morgage is paid etc etc. I am generalizing but you get my point. Its been a giant hamster wheel for a long long time! Happily with the dawn of the Information Revolution, we stopping and taking stock, we looking inward and focusing on self development, we then looking out at old systems and ways of doing things and mass disruption is occurring, driving innovation at break neck speed...not always but often for the good of the environment or the people living within. Its a fascinating time to be alive!

It follows from the above that as the world rapidly evolves around us, and no industry is safe from Disruption, that education as a whole goes under the microscope. Here are two similar videos with a central theme created by influences on Facebook. Prince EA - Education on Trial / Jay Shetty https://www.facebook.com/PrinceEa/videos/10156713883594769/. Education I am not saying these guys are experts in the education world, far from that however they are loudly calling for a change of an admittedly dated system. The next link, https://www.facebook.com/desientrepreneursinfo/videos/535141736823912/a Tedx talk is worth watching because it provides some pointers to good educational websites like edex.org and Udemy. (If you have kids a great website to look at is Treehouse https://teamtreehouse.com/ which is designed to teach kids how to code / program). The next video I really found interesting. Its about how the country,Finland made huge improvements to the results of their learners. https://www.facebook.com/BeRemarkable2/videos/197990900710284/ - The Key I believe this type approach to teaching children in the right environment is the key to education and in the future. I will expand on that in my explanation of what I think is required to be a great teacher.

Back to my story of never becoming a teacher ;) In mid 2014 I decided that I wanted to return to my home province and leave the commercial and industrial property world of Johannesburg where I had done a 10 year stint. The commercial property world as a broker was a great base for me as I was exposed to a huge variety of business's in my dealings. The nature of the decision my clients had to make were large and important and therefore took time. I got to see the inside working of a whole range of business's and learn about how they operate as I structured a property solution for them. Dealing with decision makers and being an expert in my subject has given me a great deal of confidence as well as skills which I continue to use in my classroom. I was sad to go but time with my Mother was my priority. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2013 and had already endured 2 operations and 2 rounds of chemo. We all had to make adjustments. I as a 32 year old man under my parents roof. I hadn't spent and extended period of time on farm since I went to boarding school at age 9! The teething period was brief and in hindsight I am so glad that I came home when I did and spent that time with my Mom who was an endless source of encouragement and life advice to me during the various ventures I undertook in the Eastern Cape. Some worked out and some didn't. Failure, pain, growth, resolve, lessons learnt. It was during this period that my Dad brought up teaching as an option again, but this time to his credit he did it slowly and had a great selling strategy. I hadn't considered that as a teacher you are able to work pretty much anywhere in the world! I am 35, single with no children. All my mates are married with kids. They have a thousand factors to consider with family in mind. I chose to see this as a unique opportunity few people get.That was the seed that was planted and it grew.

Two videos on FB of my influence on the kids :)

https://www.facebook.com/paul.girdwood/videos/10156121879664747/ https://www.facebook.com/paul.girdwood/videos/10155960078084747/

The first one is the greeting I got when I popped into the school to assist a new staff member. This was my register class which I saw every morning. I would prepare a motivational piece for them everyday. In a lot of ways that habit set me down a new path of self development. I then started a Vlog where I used Facebook as my platform to express my thoughts on a range of issues. My teaching career has coincided with a deep period of personal growth and self reflection

The time I have put in now on myself during the last few years has created a foundation for the rest of my life.

What I really enjoy about writing an article and putting it in a public space is that it has forced me to think deeply about my experience as a teacher to this point and how I intent to continue with this purpose going forward. I would have written my thoughts down in my journal but here I need to construct and execute what I really want to say because it can hopefully benefit other teachers that might come across it. Maybe they need a new angle or felt stuck in their role. Any person that has children could benefit by bringing up a few of my ideas to to their children's teachers to see if they can expand or contribute there own ideas or opinions. This is the first article I have written and if it makes a difference to one person, I consider that time well spent.

This is a photo of a few of my Grade 10 accounts girls before prize giving. They all won a merit award for accounts. My class average was 78% at this stage of the year. The lanyard I am holding says Get Real. At the outset I made a decision that I would be myself to my learners, I would be my authentic self and be very conscious of maintaining consistency in my behavior. Consistency created the boundaries I wanted without ever having to resort to nonconstructive punishment that served no purpose.

I made it personal. If you were in my EMS or accounting class I made sure that you knew tht you were part of a defined purpose. That you were in the team and that it required everyone to help each other come exam time to make sure we achieved great results.I became a huge fan of my classes, telling other staff and other grades how well my classes were doing. This filtered back to my kids and I am certain filled them with a sense of pride. I created some healthy competition between the grade 8 EMS classes, I kept all of the classes aware of success and hard work achieved by others too keep the motivation levels up. If I had learners that had bombed out in a section of a test or exam I was very careful to talk to them privately without singling them out. This built trust and emotional safety and I always saw an improvement in the next test or exam. My secret was that at least once a week I would reiterate the opportunities waiting for them if they did well at school. Then I would tell my kids at least once a week that they are the future of our country, it is their responsibility to do well and break the cycle. I debated decisions, I included my kids in decisions, this created a feeling of belonging or insider status. I gave them directions opened the door and they rose and walked through.

Social Innovation - Mindset. Every classroom in my old school looked the same, the learners sitting in straight rows all pointed towards the teacher and the front of the class. The teacher stands, goes through the content of the lesson in a style that never really varies much. I would also be bored if that is how I was taught. After 1 week my classroom was arranged into clusters of desks, like islands so that I could walk freely between them and split up any disruptive pairings of learners. I then moved my desk to the back of the class. This change bamboozled the pupils, a different way of sitting in class!Group-work? Standing up and presenting the groups findings? Because teamwork was so strange in the class environment I admit it took awhile and some patience to get right but once the kids realized I wasn't moving desks back and that I believed in group-work, they accepted the strange new world. At grade 8 level group-work has to be monitored closely to keep learners on task, this can get or feel frustrating but stick with it and you see real results. Learners that were too shy to talk in the beginning were standing up presenting, engaging with the content and blossoming in front of my eyes!

I am going to just put down the heading ( I can share my insight in my next article potentially. You can use them to start thinking along different lines. They all represent fairly unique topics which are very important for Teachers to apply or understand. Feedback in comments or dm me if you would like me to give my insights on the following: ()

Letting your learners choose and understanding why the concept of choice is so important
Dress - Why being on point and looking good means so much for me but should be a priority for all teachers
Setting the tone in the classroom and why its so important to have a strategy
The art of story telling.
At the center of my teaching is building up my learners self concept. If this is healthy, the rest follows naturally
Group-work tips from experience
How kids are 13 going on 30 and then staying at home unmarried at 30.
Problem solving as a life skill, removing fear of failure, challenge, argue,question. Getting them asking and discussing.

This is a CTA (Call to Action!)

I am currently job hunting to relocate to Dubai. If you reading this and have taught in Dubai previously or have contacts or advice I world really appreciate any pointers.
When I move to Dubai I want to promote teaching as a career and reverse the bad reputation or stigma that exists about the profession. I plan to do this on Social Media. A teacher abroad with content that shows the quality of life a teacher can have. I am therefore actively trying to build my followers organically.
@siillverfoxx (Insta) / www.facebook.com/paul.girdwood (FOLLOW ME!)

If you have read all the way to here, thank you for taking the time and being interested in education.I just thought of a good story to end.......

In 1976, at the height of Marley's popularity, the streets of Jamaica were a war zone. The island's two political parties, the People's National Party (PNP) and the Jamaican Labour Party (JLP), were entangled in a deadly conflict.

In order to appease the warring parties, Prime Minister Michael Manley organized a free concert called Smile Jamaica, which was to be headlined by Bob Marley and the Wailers.

Marley wanted it to be a nonpartisan, completely apolitical event. He didn't want to be seen as supporting either party but simply wanted to perform for his people.

In spite of his intentions, it was evident that some people felt the concert signified Marley was endorsing Manley and his party, the PNP. It didn't help that the concert was being held in conjunction with impending elections.

Whether he liked it or not, Marley was an inherently political individual. People wanted him on their side, as he'd become a prominent public figure and an international sensation. Not to mention, his music and philosophy seemed to espouse the socialist ideology of the PNP.

He was a man who rejected money and worldly possessions, yet the JLP was directly associated with the United States and capitalism. Consequently, the free concert angered many people on the side of the JLP.

Just days before the concert, gunmen attacked Marley's home, and he was shot in the upper arm. Doctors warned him that removing the bullet might cause him to lose control of his fingers. Thus, the bullet would remain in his arm for the rest of his life. Marley couldn't imagine a world in which he wasn't able to play instruments.

Marley refused to be deterred by this violent incident, and two days later, on Dec. 5, he delivered an inspired performance before 80,000 people. It was one of the most monumental shows of his career.

When asked why he still played the concert after getting shot, Bob answered simply,

"The people who are trying to make this world worse aren't taking a day off. How can I?"