“Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am.”
— Parker Palmer, Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation
STEM professionals who find the courage to teach are game-changers in the classrooms. More often than not, it is for reasons of the heart that these individuals are led to a career in teaching. Because of that, they see teaching not as a job but as their calling. Never doubt that this small group of courageous, thoughtful, and committed professionals is changing the world.
Teaching as an Inner Journey
In Hawai‘i, when you “talk story,” you go far beyond simply swapping tales. It’s a unique part of the islands’ culture, one that encourages true connection, so that when the conversation ends, both parties not only have a better understanding of each other but also deeper respect.
I recently had the good fortune to talk story with a former STEM professional, Jim Cox, who has taught in Hawai‘i for more than two decades, I caught a glimpse of the inner landscape of a teacher’s life, and this reawakened in me all the reasons why I myself had been drawn to education as a career. [I invite you to read his story in his own words.]
Teaching emerges from one’s inwardness. I was reminded how teaching projects one’s soul onto the students, and how each of us grows and learns from that. When I was a high school teacher, the entanglements I experienced in the classroom were often no more or less a reflection of myself. Similar to Jim, I was willing to gaze into that mirror and not run from what I saw.
Working as a teacher provided some of the most intense and satisfying moments of my professional life. When I see my former students making a difference in their work by being the best in their profession and serving their community, I feel both accomplishment and gratitude for the roles they chose in helping me discover my calling: teaching.
Teaching offers professionals a chance to gain self-knowledge. Jim is exemplary of how crucial a sense of self is to good teaching, perhaps even more so than knowing his students and his subject. Professionals who choose to teach constantly ask themselves: Who is the self that teaches?
Seizing the Courage to Teach
Last year, Jim was on the verge of retirement but chose to remain in the classroom because he knew how difficult the pandemic would be for his school. As we were talking story, I felt a deep connection with his teacher soul along three distinct but interwoven pathways. Intellectually, I connected with our similar approaches to teaching and learning, as well as our connections to our islands’ students. On an emotional level, his words about how educators and students feel as we teach and learn resonated with me. And from a spiritual standpoint, I recognized the diverse ways every individual deals with our eternal longing to be connected with something larger than our own egos.
Jim seized his courage, opening his heart to the profession and work of teaching. And while he could have used his scientific knowledge and experience to teach anywhere in the world, he chose Hawai‘i. But in many ways, Hawai‘i chose him. I could hear it in the way he told stories about his connection to his students and the greater community. I sensed it in the way he carefully chose his words, opting for Hawai‘ian terms and phrases rather than those from his mainland hometown. And I felt it reverberating through every fiber of my being as it reawakened many of the ideals and passions that still reside within me but often get overlooked as I go about the day-to-day of my current role. Even though I no longer work in the classroom, those experiences still propel me in my stride and passion.
Hawai‘i needs more STEM professionals with this level of passion to teach. As Jim and I can attest, teachers who teach with heart get back even more than they give. They receive aloha, the breath of life.
Hawai‘i’s students deserve the best teachers. Let’s make it happen.
If you are interested in becoming a K-12 STEM teacher in Hawai‘i, please visit our website for the University of Hawai‘i Maui College’s STEM Teacher Certification Pipeline (SCTP) project.