Most of the school districts have started back to school and kids are quickly determining whether they like their teachers or not. It’s only natural to have favorite teachers. Some teachers just “click” well with their students. Each year, though, 50 teachers will become their state’s Teacher of the Year and will become a finalist for the National Teacher of the Year. The National Teacher of the Year will be relieved of their teaching duties for one year and will travel the United States, advocating for education.
While this sounds great and it is certainly an honor, can you name last year’s National Teacher of the Year? Can you name Ohio’s Teacher of the Year from last year? Can you name one from any year? I know that I can’t. I can’t even name one of the many finalists. However, there are some teachers whose names we recognize almost immediately.
Socrates is the one of the oldest, most well-remembered teachers. His style of education has become known as the Socratic Method. Questions are posed and a debate begins. The idea is to bring the student to a point of discovery. Socrates, though, may not have been teaching the best things. “He was sentenced to death more than 2,400 years ago for “impiety” and “corrupting” the minds of the youth of Athens.”1
Another famous teacher is Anne Sullivan. Known as The Miracle Worker, she took a blind, deaf, and angry six-year-old Helen Keller and gave her the ability to connect her dark and silent world with the world we see and hear every day. At Sullivan’s funeral in 1936, the pastor said, “The touch of her hand did more than illuminate the pathway of a clouded mind; it literally emancipated a soul.” 2
William Holmes McGuffey is another educator whose name instantly rings the bell of familiarity. He created the McGuffey’s Eclectic Readers, a Bible-based curriculum ranging from learning the alphabet to teaching science, history, and literacy. Over a million copies had been sold by the early 1900s. However, after a few decades, the Readers disappeared from American classrooms. Some homeschool curriculums still utilize these textbooks today.
While these teachers’ names are remembered in the history books, let’s never forget the teachers mentioned even earlier in the Bible. The first reference to teaching in the Bible comes from the Master Educator, God Himself.
Moses had been commissioned by God to go before Pharaoh and to proclaim on God’s behalf, “Let my people go.” Putting up all sorts of excuses as to why God had chosen the wrong spokesperson, Moses said in Exodus 4:10, “And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.” Not really, Moses. Sounds like you are talking alright!
The Lord’s response came in verses 11-12. “And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? (12) Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.” If Moses would “go,” God would teach Him along the way.
Rather than jumping at this great opportunity, Moses proved to be an obstinate student. Exodus 4:13 says, “And [Moses] said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.” If you’ve ever been in the position of trying to teach someone and they were this stubborn, you can identify with how the Lord felt.
“And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses…” (Exodus 4:14)
Hungry, eager students are a joy. You can’t seem to pour it in fast enough. Challenging students and those that seem to make every excuse under the sun can drive deep furrows into our brow! But, like God with Moses, we can’t give up on them. We might have to be more firm and stern to get the point across but we just can’t quit on them.
The Lord is still teaching us today. Let’s be those eager students who want to learn. The Lord tells us in Psalms 32:8, “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.”
1https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2014/10/29/359325963/50-great-teachers-socrates-the-ancient-worlds-teaching-superstar
2https://interestingfacts.com/famous-teachers-history/
Images are taken from https://pixabay.com/, https://www.pexels.com/, or https://unsplash.com/images or created in Windows Copilot. According to the websites, they are Royalty Free and free to be used for our purposes.
