I agree with Steve Brophy that this week’s question for #youredustory is loaded. How are you different to your favourite teacher? Two issues. Firstly, like with my students, I don’t have a favourite teacher. As I say to them, I love teaching all my students, even if it feels like I never quite find that spark in others, I will always strive to look for it. Secondly, asking how I am ‘different’ implies we are ever the same – a fixed mindset. In my view, we are all different, even to ourselves, and are all changing on a continual basis. I am not the same person as I was when I started teaching, let alone when I went to school. For example, I remember starting University with a love of history and the desire to share this with others, while I left with a desire to make the world a better place for tomorrow. Therefore, instead of focusing on differences, I think it is better to focus on those who have inspired me along the way. Although I could go through and make some attempt to name names and try and identify how exactly they have influenced and inspired, but I feel that this misses something. It would be a list that is never quite complete. Instead, it would be historical, a statement of time. See for example, my reflection on blogging. As Jack Welch stated, in his autobiography, “nearly everything I have done has been accomplished with other people”. Who those people of influence and inspiration are does not always matter, but always being open to the ideas of others does.
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Difference, Inspiration and New Eyes by Aaron Davis is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.