What makes a good teacher?

I think this reflection on 'What makes a good teacher?' is well worth the read.

Resignation Letter

Dear Teachers

RE: Resignation


I am writing to inform you that I resign from the position of Head Teacher with an immediate effect.

Having no managerial experience whatsoever I have made a lot of mistakes during this fleeting life of being Head Teacher and communication seems to be the biggest one. Let me, therefore, first briefly explain the motives behind me accepting to become Head Teacher as it is then when most of the misunderstanding seem to have begun.

Having been in Malaysia for over one year I was striving for a new challenge. I acknowledged that it was not feasible for TBC to employ an experienced foreign teacher for this position and so I suggested that should the need arise I would not reject it as I did the first time the idea was put forward. I was careful though not to push the issue in any way. I was fully aware that the sole purpose of such a position is to benefit the organization and the teachers in the first place, yet I seemed to fail to rise up to the challenge.

The situation now, as it occurs to me, is not sustainable. Ever since I was appointed we have been facing problems which do not seem to be necessary. I have never personally benefited from being Head Teacher and so has not anyone else, the organization as a whole included. Therefore, I have no intention on clinging to it and am happy to write my first resignation letter ever with a view to improving our well-being in Malaysia.


Yours,


Jiri Brazda

Let Go, and Respond

Let go, and respond to the immediate needs around you. Don't get caught in some false perception of yourself. There will always be another person more gifted than you. And don't perceive your position as important, but be ready to serve at any moment. If you can let go of who you think you are, you will become free - ready to love others. If you learn to see your impermanence, you will be able to live for the moment and not miss opportunities to love by pushing things into the future.

-- Thich Nhat Hanh

I love rain!

Hanka brought up an intriguing question today. Am I adventurous or not? Obviously, it's always about the extent to which people are or are not adventurous but I've been strongly under the impression that I definitely am adventurous and that it is one of the inherent values of my personality. The nick 'Truly Bohemian' after all suggests that art, freedom and adventure is what I believe in.


I don't hide that I struggle with myself. A few days ago I light-heartedly suggested that I need someone to put me right and a friend of mine texted me back: “let me pray first.. plz mrs. jiri faster show up 2 make him be right!” That's something I was definitely thinking of as well but come to think of it, if I can't do it myself no one else possibly can.

Undoubtedly, adventurous people fear very little as they feel secure in this world. They're trusting and full of faith (faithful?). However, adventure is all too often perceived as simply travelling. How about the unseen and intangible mental adventures that we undertake? A shy student who signs up for English classes with a foreign teacher may not be called adventurous but it is a great adventure for them. My cousin, who passed away, wouldn't be perceived as adventurous either but she had to take on more adventures than most at her age. As they put it in The Motorcycle Diaries sometimes you have to fight for every breath. For some people a single breath is an adventure... Not the number of stamps in your passport or photos you take but struggling and overcoming obstacles, be it our fears, disabilities, injustice or anything else.

Coming back to the question mark, I certainly don't have to climb Mt. Everest (and probably die) to prove I'm adventurous. I ought to, however, become more trusting and fight back my fears. For that I need faith. I need to be full of faith. And maybe I need to be faithful too? Faithful to God?

I definitely miss someone like Alastair, who could as my spiritual leader help strengthen my faith. It would be so much easier. I wish it could be. I was given a lot and now I feel I am expected to stand on my own feet and start giving back. Being in a leadership position here, I'm exposed to great pressure. I've been criticized several times so far from other trainees for doing too much or too little but I've never heard a single word of gratitude from them (Hanka being the only exception). Hadn't I worked my ass off at the beginning, hadn't I been willing to put up with all the struggle, there would've been no work for them in the first place. No Malaysia, no adventure at all. I heard of a phenomenon called something like 'solitude of leaders' and I heard of Jesus being crucified. That works somewhat to console me.

And yes, as I stressed in my letter to myself:

There are these three things that remain: Faith, Hope, and Love. And the greatest of these is Love. -- Corinthians 13:13