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Viewpoint

Educators: Who Are They?

By Daphne Martinez

If one wants to be an educator, one will touch the future. Teaching is one of
the most challenging professions, and working in academia has always been
competitive. But…what do some professors have that causes many students to
want to take their classes while others are not so popular? For this writer, a good
educator is one who can relate to his or her students and can walk in the students’
shoes and respect them.
Students should not see professors as superiors—as perfect beings from
the Greek Metropolis—but rather as role models who want them to succeed as
they have succeeded. Educators should constantly learn from others, including
their students; life as such is a learning experience, and everyone learns until the
moment of death. As Socrates stated, “I am the wisest man alive, for I know one
thing and that thing is that I know nothing.”
As a professor teaching for 34 years, I often reflect on my pedagogy and how
I am immersed in the process of educating the future of a country. How fulfilling
can that be! I agree with Socrates: “The highest knowledge is possessed by that
individual who truly knows himself; this knowledge constitutes wisdom.” To
increase my understanding and as part of their learning process, I have asked my
students to write reflective essays exploring “what is an educator.” Indeed, most
of them have been extremely honest. Each student has had a different perspective;
however, most of them pointed out the qualities of dedication, patience, and
discipline in an educator.
Several years ago, students in my freshman English as a Second Language
(ESL) course wrote essays about a teacher who had made an impact on their lives.
They watched the movie The Miracle Worker, and I asked them if they had known
an educator like Anne Sullivan, who famously unlocked
the world for blind Helen Keller. As I read their opinions of
educators, I found most of their essays were about enriching
experiences. What I gathered from the essays was that they
believed their professors should make a difference in students’
lives by living their teaching wholeheartedly—in other words,
by having passion in teaching. Teachers should see students
as human beings and respect their opinions, not impose their
own political views on their pupils. Moreover, they stated that
educators should teach students to be better people.
A very important point noted was that educators should teach by example.
If an educator wants students to read, the educator must read constantly and be
passionate about reading. Teaching to be disciplined is demonstrated by being
disciplined, studying the material that is going to be taught, and being prepared
for class. Also, one teaches others to be aware of the importance of time by being
punctual.
When analyzing the students’ comments, I realized that, in academia,
professors do not always possess these characteristics. In my observation,
professors at the university level often want their students to believe what they

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