Part 3 in the series Inspirational People
I have found that the fastest way to learn is to teach somebody else. Perhaps the anticipation of unknown questions forces one to apply themselves more to the newly acquired knowledge.
I also find that committing to teaching forces to break down their building blocks of knowledge to the simplest form. Perhaps that too is in anticipation of different personalities and their levels to grasp something. Either way, committing to teach seems to open up a valve that allows knowledge to flood in and stay there.
As I write, Ron Clark inspires me. He “is known for his ability to raise test scores” significantly –Wikipedia. I can only stress that he was not paid anything extra while building his legacy. He simply loved what he was doing, just like Charles Goodyear.
Clark took a job in an elementary school in Harlem, New York, in 1998. He used innovative and unorthodox ways of teaching his learners, who later achieved some of the highest scores in the region. A movie called The Triumph pronounces Ron Clark’s way of doing things far better than I could ever attempt.
I gathered two important points from the film.
- Education is the highest form of social interaction. People will pay attention because they believe they have something to gain. When education actually takes place, there’s a magic connection established between the people involved. Everybody grows out of that process
- To win people, you must allow them to win you. I found it fascinating how Ron Clarke allowed the children to teach him a thing or two in other areas of interest. He openly allowed that to happen and that’s how the relationship spawned from disregarding the new teacher, to really having a special person who provides a source of growth.
Today we know of the Ron Clark Academy, a private non-profit school, built after 10 years of Ron Clark dreaming and pursuing its existence.
When you love what you’re doing, you cannot help but get it done properly.
