On
multiple occasions I had the privilege of working with motivational speaker, Frank
Charles Winstead. Mr. Winstead provided
chapter three, Wayside Teacher: In a Place Called School, for the book Be A
Teacher: You Can Make a Difference. This
past weekend, I took the opportunity to re-read the chapter contributed by Mr.
Winstead. Frank Charles and I share a
common philosophy- IT IS THE RELATIONSHIPS
DEVELOPED THAT WILL MOST LIKELY INFLUENCE THE LIVES OF OTHERS!
Below
I have included in this posting an excerpt of the chapter written by Mr.
Winstead. With his permission, I have
changed a few words to make it applicable to all educators.
WAYSIDE TEACHING
Formal, organized instruction is, and ought to be, the
major component of the educational process. It deserves our best attention and our most
thoughtful planning. The important place
that planned instruction has in the school day is highly evident; bells signal
the beginning and the endings of time allotments established for its occurrence
and the school day is almost completely given over to it.
While not seeking to deprecate this formal teaching or
diminish its primary place in the educational enterprise, I believe there is
much more to education than organized instruction. The more influential aspect of education is
often what might be called wayside teaching.
By wayside teaching, I mean the teaching that is done between classes, i.e.,
when walking in the halls, after school, and in dozens and dozens of one-on-one
encounters, however brief. For
principals it is usually the main means of teaching.
When all is said and done, what is said informally and
casually may have more impact on a person’s behavior than what is said formally
while instructing a class or conducting a faculty meeting. A response to a student’s non-academic
question, given spontaneously and without particular fore-thought, can have
great impact. In terms of affecting
behavior, such a response may be the most influential act a teacher performs
all day. Wayside utterances are often
heard at a deeper level than classroom pronouncements.
Fortunately, many teachers do not think of themselves
as “on duty” only when standing in front of a class. The casual walk with a student or two on the
way to a student council meeting is recognized as an opportunity to develop the
kind of personal relationship that underlies true excellence in education. The unplanned after-school encounter with a
discouraged student is seized as an occasion to express caring and offer a
reassuring word. Even a surprise meeting
in the mall on a Saturday is seen as a chance to communicate a genuine interest
in a student as a worthy person.
Wayside teaching, however, is neither as casual nor as
completely accidental as it may appear. Preparation of the heart as well as the mind
has to precede it. If teachers have
credence with pupils, they will often seek opportunities to engage students in
conversation, and vice versa.
While the occasion may come up suddenly and
unexpectedly, the quality of the relationship preceding the conversation will
reflect a bend of the heart and spirit that usually was a long time in the making.
As educators we cannot evade the responsibility that
is inherent in our personal example –and we shouldn’t try to. We may not dwell
on it a great deal—that would seem self-righteous, even egotistical – but we
need to be sensitive to the effect our behavior has on students and faculty.
Our conscious influence, when we are on dress parade,
instructing a group, playing the role of teacher, may be relatively small
compared to the impact of our wayside teaching. The silent, subtle radiation of one’s personality,
the effects on one’s spontaneous words and unplanned deeds apart from those
times when one is in front of the class have great impact. One rarely becomes a “significant other” on the
basis of actions when formally instructing. It is in relationships developed in wayside
teaching that one is most likely to influence the lives of others.
