Take a moment and think of a painting that you consider a masterpiece. Do you have that masterpiece in your mind? What you are seeing in your mind is the result, not the process of what it took to put that magnificent work on an empty canvas. Understand that the artist didn’t have many tools to create this masterpiece, but stepped up with talent, inspiration, some paint, and a blank canvas. With confidence in their talent, the artist began to dip into the paint and stroke back and forth.
The blank canvas, now marked with paint, begins to take form with the guide of inspiration to keep the artist focused with each stroke of the brush. Onlookers may look confused, unable to track the progress of this work, but as time goes on the picture becomes a little clearer each time more paint is added. Finally, the vision in the artist’s mind is now staring the audience right in the face. This feeling is euphoric because the artist no longer has the idea of the painting, but the idea has now become a reality and they can walk away from their work saying, “I did that!”
It’s a fact some of us have come to realise that we all may not be able to paint masterpieces on the level of some of history’s greatest artists. But did you know that not all art requires a paint brush? Did you know that teaching is an art? To some that look from afar, they may think, “Teachers have the easiest jobs in the world. They’re just glorified babysitters.” Now, we know that’s not the case. The teacher is probably the best artist that the world has ever seen.
Teachers around the world are faced with blank canvases everyday: their students. Students come into classrooms as a blank canvas. To someone who may not possess the art of teaching, they may see a hopeless case in some students. But the teacher looks at a student void of knowledge in a specific subject and sees potential. Teachers may not have many materials but remember, an artist doesn’t need much to create a masterpiece. Approaching the students, just as an artist approaches the canvas, the teacher has an inspired lesson and new knowledge that’s ready to be shared. Sometimes, it may look like a mess or feel like a mess, because all the students may not understand right away. So, the teacher reaches in the bag of tricks and pulls out patience and then breaks the material down further so all can grasp it. As more students begin to experience the light bulb effect, where they begin to understand, the teacher sees right before their eyes a masterpiece coming into view. Now students that were once oblivious to knowledge on a specific subject, begin to repeat back their learnings. The kindergartener that didn’t know the ABC’s, struggles, but finishes this 26-letter sequence, and the teacher sits back and looks at their masterpiece. The middle school student that felt that they weren’t good in math, after the art of teaching, can now repeat the Pythagorean Theorem and use it to solve a mathematical equation. The high school student that felt that graduating was an impossible task, now walks across stage and looks into their teacher’s eyes saying, “I did it,” and the teacher looks back at their masterpiece.
The art of teaching lives through educators around the world and is the cause to why we have such an advanced world today. If it weren’t for the art of teaching, we wouldn’t have half the things in this world because all things must first be taught. So, to the teacher that is reading this, you are an artist and you create masterpieces every day. The journey isn’t always easy, but your inspiration and gift to teach is what turns some of the toughest cases into works of art. The success in the world we live in can be pointed back to one thing, and that one thing is the art of teaching.