For this weeks blog I read “Voices of Our Foremothers: Celebrating the Legacy of African-American Women Educators: A Personal Dedication” by Sunny- Marie Birney. In it Birney talks about her experience with her African American teachers and how they became “..[her] mothers away from home...”. In the next section she discusses Carter G. Woodson and how she believes that teaching is a form of service. This caught my attention in the sense that I never looked at teaching in that light, but after her analyses of it I now see that it is indeed a service.
A teachers job is much more than simply teaching a child information about a subject. A good teacher, a true teacher, knows how to expand a mind and actually get their students to think, process and use information that they learn. Teachers hold just as much power, if not more in certain situations, as a child's parent(s). Birney expressing that she saw her teachers as “mothers” shows that the interaction she experienced with them was significant. Therefore, it can be noted that teachers have a major impact on the students that come across their path. A teacher that is successful in not only teaching academics, but helping their students grow as individuals has succeeded in performing a service of educating.
I feel that the professors I interact with here at Spelman College fall into the description of performing a service. Since being here I feel as if my mind has been expanded and I’ve been forced to think critically about situations and life. Professors here are open and willing to answer questions about both the curriculum and everyday concerns. Being at a school with a smaller population makes building these types of relationships and having these interactions possible and for that I’m thankful.
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