Existentialism and the Good Teacher

A good teacher:
1). Provides an environment where the students are recognized as individuals
2). Creates opportunities for the student to direct their own learning

The Existentialist puts emphasis on the individuality and self-awareness and puts a lot of value in choosing. In a classroom, it is easy to treat the class as one and present the lesson as if there is only one student. It is often simpler to deliver the lesson and not think so much about who your delivering the lesson to. It is often the case that teachers teach the subject but fail to teach the student. It will take an additional effort to tailor the lesson plan  for each student. What I agree with is that in teaching a lesson, the focus should not be on making it simpler or easier for the teacher but on making it more relevant and effective for the student.

Something that struck me in the existentialist point of view is the primacy on choosing. This action of choosing is not just about picking the better or more relevant option. It is rather on the point that the person is conscious of the effect of each choice that he makes. This makes each choice part of that person and is not just forgotten once the decision is done.

As a teacher, this is something that is watched out for and developed. It should also be a conscious effort of the teacher to make activities and opportunities for the students to see this for themselves and understand that  each choice is theirs and not an effect of others. It is through this that the student can feel that his education, his time spent in the school is authentic, is real. Learning then would become very personal. Not too personal that it loses sight of what the lesson was in the first place but makes it in such a way that retention, understanding and ultimately the meaning of the lesson is higher.

One method of doing this is through the Socratic Method, but one wherein the answers and meaning are constructed entirely by the student and almost not at all by the teacher. By letting the students create their own meaning, it is hoped that they are also more aware of the effect their own decisions make on their view of the world.