Discovering One’s Authentic Teaching Self

The works by Professor Fowler and Sarah Deel on discovering one’s authentic teaching self are very enlightening. In these works, the authentic self as an entity is presented as something that is integral to good teaching practice. As I struggle to find my authentic teaching self, these works have stocked up a number of questions in my mind. What is at the core of this authentic teaching self? How does one discover it? Does this entity help in making one a good teacher? Or Is there any chance that one’s authentic self would, actually, be detrimental to good teaching practice? Can the authentic self be re-engineered?

Perhaps at the core of the self would be the crystallization of one’s character, the remnant being once all the unnatural externalizations are stripped off. This would be the unique being that is in its purest natural form complete with fears and inhibitions and reflexes to stimuli. The authentic teaching self would be the same, just understood within the context of the teaching needs. This would be the unique being that is in its purest natural form when responding to stimuli within the teaching environment. As this authentic self is unique to each different individual, it could manifest in many different ways. It could manifest as nervousness in one individual, for example, and composure in another.

The individual self may be discovered once all the externalizations are shut out and stripped off. With regard to teaching, the authentic self might be discovered once all the externalizations are shut out with the exception of the teaching environment. The being that remains once the outside world is shut out to a world where only the teaching environment exists with respect to the individual self becomes the authentic teaching self.

The varied manifestations of the authentic teaching self give rise to the next important questions. Does this entity help in making one a good teacher? Or Is there any chance that one’s authentic self would be detrimental to good teaching practice? In its purest form, it may not be said that the authentic teaching self can inevitably contribute to good teaching practice. For instance, it would be highly unlikely that an authentic teaching self that manifests itself through fits of nervousness would make one a good teacher, in spite of this being the one’s authentic teaching self. To be sure, this teaching self would only characterize a less than desirable teaching experience. However, for those individuals whose teaching self manifests through composure, it would be unsurprising if that makes them good teachers.

Can the authentic teaching self be re-engineered? Surely, those individuals whose authentic teaching self is detrimental to their teaching practice must not be led into belief that they are condemned to being sub-optimal teachers. Perhaps this authentic teaching self can be altered to take out the undesirable manifestations and replace them with the desirable ones. It should be encouraged for individuals to copy what has worked elsewhere and use it to train their authentic teaching selves in unlearning the undesirable traits. Overtime, a new authentic teaching self should be able to awaken.

The discovery of one’s teaching self can be seen as being integral to good teaching practice in so far as it helps individuals learn of their weaknesses and strengths, whereby, if the former is undesirable it can be unlearned and replaced altogether. Adequate preparation and repeated best practices, for example, could be some ways through which an authentic teaching self that manifests itself as fits of nervousness could be unlearned and replaced.