A Teacher’s Journey
By Peter W. Cookson, Jr.

Recently, I was principal for the day at an elementary school in my hometown. Whenever I visit a school, I'm moved by the profound responsibility that we educators have to ensure a better future for all children. In the school I visited, one hundred percent of the children are eligible for free breakfast and lunch. The children in this school were hungry and they grasped their muffins eagerly, almost desperately. Their families are poor and come from all over the world. I visited classrooms and my highlight of the day was reading to kindergartners. The light in their eyes is the light of the world. As the day progressed, I thought more and more about what it means to be a teacher.

A great adventure
As a first year teacher, you are undoubtedly swamped with the demands of the job. So much of education appears routine and uninspiring. But in reality, teaching is a great adventure. It's a journey along a road that is sometimes wide and straight, sometimes narrow and crooked, and, every once in a while, it feels like entering a dead-end street with no exits. In reality, however, teaching is a profession where you make your own path because, despite all the pressures placed on teachers to conform, there is still room for imagination, creativity and innovation.

A journey from inside out
A teacher's journey is really a journey from the inside out. You are the instrument of your own development. All great teachers are creative and imaginative. They are role models of the possible and scouts for the future. How will you create your own journey as you start out on your career? Here are a few thoughts about some core principles that might help you on your journey to become a great teacher and a lifelong learner.

• Don't be afraid of your own feelings. Too often professionalism is equated with intellectualism and coldness. We know, however, that the brain is stimulated by and responds to deep feelings. Like a good actor, you need to be in touch with your feelings and then translate those feelings into the emotional glue that makes a classroom transcend the routine and enter into the extraordinary. Teach from the head and the heart; without heart there is no lasting learning.

• Always be a courageous reasoner. The purpose of learning is the discovery of truth. Unfortunately, we have come to equate learning with test scores. I wonder how Socrates or Galileo or Einstein would have done on standardized tests – creative intelligence is immeasurable. The creative breakthroughs that have shaped our world could not have been achieved if some creative pioneers were not brave enough to think differently and to keep the search for the truth as their intellectual and moral North Star.

  Today courageous reasoning is needed more than ever. Popular culture is awash with violence, commercialized sex, and materialistic values that undermine the deep values of reflection, empathy, tolerance and hope. Thinking clearly is the foundation of a life well-lived. To reason courageously is the foundation of self-knowledge and the cradle of civic life.

• Don't be ashamed of serving others. In our society, self is very often put above service. The idea that a life well-lived includes service over self runs counter to the commercialized culture that glorifies self over service. Community means nothing if not service and sacrifice.

You've probably noticed that many of your students are mesmerized by the status symbols of our culture. Wearing the right running shoes seems a lot more important than having the right ideas. As teachers, we need to model the opposite behavior where the quality of our characters is more important than what we have in the clothes closet.

Shaping the future
In one sense, you've undertaken the most difficult and rewarding career imaginable. You are responsible for shaping the future, not only in terms of what you teach, but also with who you are. I can clearly remember a handful of unforgettable teachers who modeled for me the values of intellectual curiosity, attention to evidence and ethical behavior. As you grow in your profession, becoming increasingly reflective will be a gift to both your students and their families. Generations of students will learn their core values from you and, in turn, pass those values on at work, in their families and as citizens.

Teachers are not technicians. We are guides, mentors and scouts on the frontiers of knowledge. When I think about the students that I saw when I was principal for a day, I remember the light in their eyes and it reminds me why I so eagerly decided to become a teacher. Let's pledge to never forget.

Peter W. Cookson, Jr. is the founder of TCinnovations and the Dean of the Graduate School of Education of Lewis & Clark College. He is also founder of the Center for Educational Outreach & Innovation at Teachers College and columnist for Teaching Pre K-8 magazine.