How to be an Effective Educator Pt. 1
An effective educator prioritizes prayer, unwavering dedication, and patience.
In the world of education, the word effective is used extensively. But what does it mean? Merriam-Webster defines effective as “producing a decided, decisive, or desired result”(1). As a teacher who cares about your students, what they are learning, and hopes they flourish, you desire to be an effective educator. So, what does it take to be an effective educator? What does it take to achieve the desired results in the classroom? Part one of this answer comes in the way of three traits that define an effective educator.
Prayerfulness
As a teacher, prayer is one of the most effective tools to prepare for your day and your students. Author John Onwuchekwa asserts, “Prayer is oxygen for the Christian. It sustains us”(2). Developing a discipline to pray daily for wisdom, patience, compassion, and strength is critical in your life as a teacher. Coming into your classroom a few minutes early, before the students arrive, and praying over your classroom, visualizing your students who will be there soon, and praying for them by name is a powerful and effective way to begin each school day. As Charles Spurgeon reminds us, “Beloved, the gathering up of all our remarks is just this—prayer is no trifle. It is an eminent and elevated act. It is a high and wondrous privilege”(3).
“Developing a discipline to pray daily for wisdom, patience, compassion, and strength is critical in your life as a teacher. ”
Commitment
When someone enters a profession, such as teaching, it requires commitment. One of the most frightening things concerning commitment is that by committing yourself to something, you necessarily uncommit from other things. This reality is often why people choose not to marry, for example. Commitment carries with it an honorable weight. It is a proclamation stating that you intend to stick with someone or something, and a set of actions that follow in order to carry out that proclamation. An effective educator begins with a commitment to the teaching profession; to persevering alongside their students in the pursuit of learning.
“The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it. ”
Patience
As humorist Arnold Glasow says, “The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.” Learning is typically a slow and long process. Being ever-cognizant of that reality will help you foster patience for the task, namely educating the students in your care. Life in your students' homes can often be complicated for various reasons. Remembering this reality will help you choose patience over anger when faced with guiding a misbehaving student. Recall the words of the Apostle Paul in Colossians 3:12, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”
When beginning your day as a teacher, humbly and honestly ask the Lord to clothe you with the qualities you will need for that day: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. What a marvelous combination of traits that are sure to cause you to be a more effective educator to those with whom you’ve been entrusted.
John Onwuchekwa. Prayer: How Praying Together Shapes the Church.
C.H. Spurgeon. Sermons on Prayer.
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