Becoming a Global Teacher

My amazing experience in India is hard to put into words! I learned so many beautiful things about others and myself. 

I reached India and was met by Rachel, one of our team leads. She is a teacher in the UK and despite not having met each other yet, she gave me such a warm welcome! We went to meet up with the others at the office of Manta 4 Change, a non-profit based in Bangalore. There we met Vasu and Raffi,  who led an orientation reviewing our duties and responsibilities. I was assigned to work with 3 teachers at Blossom Public School. Even though it is called a public school, Blossom is actually a private school that gets support from the government, similar to a charter school is in the US. I was excited to work with Shabana Miss, Sangetha Miss and Laskshmi Miss. I was able to observe their classrooms and their teaching strategies. The class sizes are large with each class containing 35-40 students. The teachers I worked with exuded passion and a love for their students! It was incredible to know that other teachers share the same strong feelings of reaching out and
inspiring students from half way across the world! After the first week of mentoring, another teacher, Meraj Miss, requested to be part of the mentoring process. I was very excited that other teachers wanted to join in the collaboration and take in new teaching strategies. The children were amazing! They were committed to their school. They showed respect to their teachers, parents, and everyone else in the community. The children inspired me with their curiosity, openness and willingness to achieve what we were trying to accomplish. They are the reason why we were there. The whole experience was very positive! My hope is that the fire to connect with the students carries on forever with the teachers I worked with.

During this fellowship, I was able to share what I have learned from years of studying and learning from others. Its surreal to see years of collaboration come full circle. I remember a presenter from a previous PD once said, "Do unto others what you want others to do unto others." That saying stuck with me and it materialized in India. I was able to share my knowledge and by doing this, I was able to grow and improve my perspective on teaching, community and life in general. As a Montessorian, I intensified the practice of the Montessori philosophy of care of self, others and the environment. This experience made me more aware of my cosmic task, my responsibility to the world to remain open and aware that I am not the only person trying to navigate this world.

 

  

Another saying that came to mind during this experience was this: "Once there is seeing, there must be acting" by Allan Watts. How fitting is this quote to what I just went through! It's challenging me to make the next move. It's asking me what do I do now that I've seen what I've seen. Now that I've met these wonderful people, how am I going to act on it? How can I continue to make this experience part of me?

What do I do now?

Life goes on and I move forward. I am back in Chicago, and the same busy streets in Bangalore continue to move along even without me there. I will carry the lessons I learned. I will make this experience a permanent part of me and continue to hope that I have inspired someone in India to become the best teacher (or student) that they can be because they have done that to me.