Blog Post #60, June 2, 2009, www.coachswen.com 

Mr. P

Category: Teaching

Have you ever had the opportunity to witness a school honoring one of its great teachers? On tonight’s five o’clock news, I saw a Seattle area high school staff, at their end-of-school assembly, honor Mr. P, one of their teachers that was retiring. After the assembly, the local news crew interviewed some of his students and then him. When I heard the interviews, I learned the foundation of all great teaching. 

Mr. P walked up to the stage and was handed a certificate of appreciation. On his way back to his chair, the entire student body gave him a standing ovation. That’s when the film clip shifted to the interviews. Students told the reporter, Mr. P challenged them and helped them believe in themselves. When Mr. P was given the microphone, he simply told the reporter what he believed was his reason for success: “I love my students and they know it. I believe in them and encourage them.” That’s all he said, but those fifteen words spoke volumes about teaching.

The film clip shifted to the classroom, with Mr. P in front of his students. He had them recite words that confirmed to themselves they were gifted. When the film clip broke away from the classroom, I was left hanging. How I wanted to see more!  All I could do is guess what happened next. Based on what he said in the interview, I assumed he encouraged (to give courage) his students to make their confirmations reality. It’s one thing to tell your students you believe in them; it’s another level when you give them the courage to, like one of Mr. P’s students said, “take risks.”

It would be easy to overanalyze Mr. P’s words. But there is nothing between the lines. Mr. P loved his students, and because he deeply cared about them, he set an honest self-fulfilling prophesy in motion. Then, he encouraged them to take risks and go for it. As a result, his students were convinced Mr. P loved them.

Not a bad formula for the foundation of teaching success, is it?