An excerpt from Passionate Teacher – Virtuous Teaching by Dr. Laurie Ann Jones, 2006
Sophie Freud, the grand-daughter of the great Sigmund Freud, wrote of the transformation that teaching made on her life. She had a quite successful career as wife, mother, social worker and therapist, but “suddenly had a vivid image of self-fulfillment…I wanted to enrich [teachers’-in-training] lives and the lives of the people with whom they worked” (Freud, 1987, p. 125). She said that when she began teaching, only then did her work become “emotionally significant and a source of self-esteem” (Freud, 1987, p. 134). Like Freud, the passionate teacher has a sense of calling, a “sense that one has something to contribute, that one can make a difference, and that one can shape the world and not just be shaped by it” (Hansen, 1995, p. 90).
The passionate teacher may be passionate about a field of knowledge, issues facing our world or about children. Passionate teachers exhibit no particular style of teaching nor do they hold similar personality types. What unites them is the commitment to active learning and how they approach the mission of teaching (Fried, 1998).
We all need to find something about our teaching that matters deeply to us, get passionate about it, and share that passion. When we discover and explore our passions about teaching and learning and begin to share them with others, doors are opened, and the possibilities are endless. (Olson, 2003, p. 305)
What is Passion?
Passion is what makes a difference in the quality and depth of student learning (Fried, 1998). The passionate teacher transfers that passion to students by her example (Olson, 2003). Teaching is difficult work – often lonely work. Answering the call to teach often motivates one to continue teaching, but Sophie Freud argues that it is a “passion for our work” (Freud, 1987, p. 134, Durka, 2002, p. 68) that moves and inspires one to persevere.
[Teaching] demands total devotion to its subject-matter, as well as providing rich and varied life experiences. It demands tight self-discipline and loose creativity. It demands openness to people and absorption with ideas, protection of time and energy, as well as endless commitment to students. It demands both solitude and many human encounters. (Freud, 1987, p. 134)
The passionate teacher is
someone truly enamored of a field of knowledge, or deeply stirred by issues and ideas that challenge our world, or drawn to the crises and creativity of the young people who come into class each day – or all of these. To be a passionate teacher is to stop being isolated within a classroom, to refuse to submit to a culture of apathy or cynicism, to look beyond getting through the day. (Fried, 1998, p. 53)
The passionate teacher is the one who makes a difference in the lives of children.
Does Passion Matter?
Passion is not a goal of education, but instead when children encounter the passionate teacher, they find a bridge that connects the intensity of their thoughts and real life experiences. Students always know they are in the presence of someone who is devoted to learning and teaching. Students know when they are in the presence of the passionate teacher (Fried, 1998). “[T]his caring about ideas and values, this fascination with the potential for growth within people, this fervor about doing things well and striving for excellence” (Fried, 1998, p. 54) is what makes a teacher unforgettable.
The passionate teacher is one who truly knows and believes in what she does. With this understanding, comes a way of life. She makes this belief part of herself and her orientation to the world (Hansen, 2001). The passionate teacher believes that teaching is not only an intellectual endeavor, but a moral endeavor as well (Durka, 2002, Hansen, 1995, 2001, Lickona, 1991). Teaching involves touching not only the minds of children, but the heart of children. The passionate teacher is “not afraid to speak [her] truth in the face of soft forms of cultural relativism” (Bullough, Mayes, & Patterson, 2002).
Why Teach with Passion?
This focus allows the passionate teacher the means to “work out the inner desire to contribute to the transformation of the world” (Durka, 2002, p. 6). The passionate teacher positions herself “to enter and to help sustain a world of human flourishing. That entry and that ongoing task, will call upon the teacher’s person, conduct, and moral sensibility” (Hansen, 2001, p. 40).
This is the essence of one who possesses a passion for teaching and for promoting the morality of society’s children. This passion is a driving force, an all-encompassing devotion, a fervor that defines the life and mission of this teacher. The passionate teacher not only concerns herself with the intellectual development of her students, but the moral development as well.
This basic hunger for goodness makes claims on us as teachers and lures us to teach what is more than conceptual knowledge or emotional skills, namely, how to live well. We realize that we do what we do because we feel called to do it. It is for us a source of joy. (Durka, 2002, p. 80)
