The feeling that engulfs me whenever I complete a session with my students is Pure Bliss! Had anyone told me growing up that I would be a teacher , I would have said, "Don't mess with a Detective!
That's right! My childhood dream was to be a police detective, period! Oh! How detective TV shows fascinated me, with detectives busily 'snooping' into other people's lives to solve their mysteries. Although, I did not see many [or any] female detectives on TV. So, I vowed that I would become That woman Detective when I grew up, an opportunity to teach the world about gender-inclusive professions!
Just so you know, I grew up a tomboy, which might explain my fascination with male-dominated social spaces! I dared to dismantle the prescribed social normalcy as your "social iconoclast," if I may! I am the child who choose my co-ed middle school, breaking with the family tradition of letting my father pick our middle schools. Father chose single-sex/all-girls schools for my older siblings, while I preferred a boys and girls school, like our neighbors. When he asked about my post-primary school selection, I informed him that I had already made my choices and returned the form to the school authorities! That would become one of my many glass ceiling shattering moments in my family and public lives!
Professional teaching was never on my "grown up bucket-list!" True, my mother was an early childhood educator, taught primary school, advanced to a primary school headteacher, switched to teaching adult English learners, then founded a vocational training institute for early childhood teachers. I admired my mom greatly, as my first teacher! I hold fond memories of reading with her even as the nation's civil war engulfed our hometown, with government soldiers habitually invading, pillaging, and robbing our homes of whatever their hands could lug. I shared my love for reading with my little nieces and nephews in laters years and with my child when I became a new parent.
My first "taste of professional teaching" came after high school, when my mom found me a paid job teaching English for Beginners to Bangladesh migrant women. Learning English would ease their transition into an Anglophone country and allow them to participate in family businesses alongside their husbands. Except, they preferred to learn from their homes than commute to the Center City school. To my surprise, I enjoyed teaching them written and conversational English, which came with a few perks. For instance, invitations to Bangladesh buffet parties, making new international friends and learning about a new culture by the time I left for college, and earning a couple of bucks to spend on my college escapades.
In college I trained student human rights activists as volunteer advocates for prisoners and prisoners rights. Straight out of college, my first paid job was a university-college Lecturer [more appropriately, instructor] of Sociological Theory in Eastern Uganda. I cannot say whether my students were more excited with my teaching or hanging out with a "cool lecture?" But after one semester, I reverted to my human rights work of building a career in research and advocacy.
I taught refugees how to recognize and advocate for their human rights, prepare for asylum hearings or refugee resettlement interview, and seek socio-legal support from community groups. I counseled refugee women and young girls in Uganda, South Africa, and the southern United States about protection from and after sexual/gender-based violence and how to secure community support.
In graduate school, I tutored international student of Limited English Proficiency (LEPs) from non-English backgrounds like Brazil, China, Kazakhstan, Korea (South), and Japan. I worked with them on research thesis and dissertation design to completion and academic writing. I also tutored Tufts undergraduate students of African International Politics for a political science professor in a course involving two African universities - Makerere and Dar es Salaam.
"Nobody would ever dissuade me from teaching college and graduate students!" I swore to myself. "Little kids were not for me!" But, who was I kidding?
Fast-forward to becoming a mother, and it was back to my "young aunt teacher days" with my nieces and nephews. Even before his birth, I had a learning template for my child, involving books at bedtime, relaxation time, or anytime we had to each other. At six months, "Your Baby Can Read," by Dr. Robert Titzer, made the teaching classes official with cue cards, videos, and books. My baby said the word "ball" by nine months. His hands went up whenever one said, "Hands up," he clapped to "Clap your hands," and many more gimmicks!
So, when we moved into a location with limited opportunities for my international career, my young child was the unexpected inspiration for what would become my career in teaching young minds. In order to be a reliable learning partner, as the only involved parent to my kindergartner, I ventured into substitute teaching at our area school district. The school schedule allowed me to put my child on the school bus in the morning and pick him up. Better yet, we could go to school and return home together as a substitute teacher at my child's school. The joy of learning with my child translated into nurturing other young intellectuals.
Parenting made me relatable to young learners! Teaching made me a better parent! So, I took a more dramatic step, went back to school, and obtained professional certification as an early childhood and special education teacher! The "stay away from teaching early learners" became their zealous cheerleader!
Now I teach all grades, from Pre-K to graduate school, with multiple attitudes, temperaments, excitement, energies, and intelligences. I plan and design teaching aides, listen, and learn from my students. I enjoy playful, hands-on, project-based, and experiential learning with my students, anytime, anywhere. Take me on vacation, and we'll find a learning opportunity. On my running trail, we will invent learning opportunities about the various running shoe brands worn by fellow runners, the neighborhood socio-economic activities, or historical information. Academic conferences, journals, news, policy debates, crowds, bookstores, podcasts, and street fete are my sources of joyous learning. Learning brings me so much joy! Most importantly, nurturing young minds is my favorite dwelling source of the Joy of Learning!
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