by EH Karlmac

Created on: February 20, 2009

A Great Teacher Must be a Thinker

A great teacher must indeed be a great person in his own right, though he be less well known outside his forte, the school compound. His influence, however, must know no barrier. It must extend and affect those whom he has had no physical encounters with. Those whose minds he has helped to nurture, if indeed he was great, must be able in their adult lives to remember those idiosyncrasies in him that inspired them, and even try to measure up to his standards, that is if they do not already see in themselves a reflection of their former teacher's points of excellence. Those who caught his fire without reserve may even become greater than their great teacher, either in the same profession, or in another field excel and exceed their teacher's effect, thereby extending that great teacher's influence like a small spark causing an enormous fire. They therefore become several times famous than their teacher for their great achievements, achievements which must greatly add to the welfare of the society. The true value of greatness is measured by the extent to which it has contributed to the promotion of human good.

Though the class is the teacher's platform on which he professes knowledge and from which his children feed on a diet that support intellectual enlargement, a teacher's greatness cannot be confined within the four walls of a classroom, or within the precincts of a school. True greatness bursts the seams of physical limitations and extends its great power beyond its possessor's field of expertise. His students, because their minds brushed shoulders with greatness, must, in some way later in their various professions and private lives, reflect that greatness. A doctor will want to be thorough in his treatment of his patients as his teacher was thoroughly knowledgeable in his subject. A lawyer will yearn to pursue justice to the extent that his teacher inspired in him a sense of fairness, respect for justice, and sanctity of human life. They will, like Sir Isaac Newton, say that they stand on the shoulders of a giant, that their great skills in their respective professions did not just happen, but that a great teacher inspired their superior service to humanity.

In short, a great teacher must be no less great than a great writer, politician, scientist, theorist or philosopher. His thoughts, intelligence and creativity, his temperament, spirit and mien, must be of such sublime quality that they easily distinguish themselves from

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