Favorite Quotes on Teaching
- "The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires."
--William Arthur Ward
Born and raised in Louisiana, Ward entered the United States Army as a private in 1942 and rose to the rank of captain. Part of his four years of military service was spent in the Philippines.
A graduate of McMurry College, he received his master's degree at Oklahoma State University. He worked toward the doctorate at the University of Texas and at North Texas State University. In 1962 Oklahoma City University honored him with the Doctor of Laws degree in recognition of his professional achievement, literary contributions and service to others. Ward served as Assistant to the President of Texas Wesleyan College in Fort Worth beginning in 1955. In addition to his professional responsibilities, he was for two years the Director of Methodist Men for the Central Texas Conference, and for four years he taught the 140-member Sigler Bible Class at Polytechnic Methodist Church, where he also served as Sunday School Superintendent and Church Lay Leader. He was a professional member of Sigma Delta Chi, American College Public Relations Association, Religious Public Relations Council and Phi Delta Kappa. In Fort Worth he was on the Board of Directors of numerous organizations including Rotary, Red Cross and Boy Scouts of America. His biography appears in Who's Who in American Education, Who's Who in Public Relations, and Who's Who in the South and Southwest. He was a member of the International Platform Association. Also by William Arthur Ward: For This One Hour, Thoughts of a Christian Optimist, Prayer Is
2. “I am a teacher! What I do and say are being absorbed by young minds who will echo these images across the ages. My lessons will be immortal, affecting people yet unborn, people I will never see or know. The future of the world is in my classroom today, a future with the potential for good or bad. The pliable minds of tomorrow's leaders will be molded either artistically or grotesquely by what I do.
Several future presidents are learning from me today; so are the great writers of the next decades, and so are all the so-called ordinary people who will make the decisions in a democracy. I must never forget these same young people could be the thieves or murderers of the future.
Only a teacher? Thank God I have a calling to the greatest profession of all! I must be vigilant every day lest I lose one fragile opportunity to improve tomorrow.” Ivan Welton Fitzwater
Born on the family farm in Maryland, Dr. Fitzwater was educated at The George Washington University (BS '55, MA '59, EdD ‘65). He was an educator in Montgomery County, Maryland, Elkhart, Indiana, and Fort Worth, Texas before becoming Superintendent of the North East Independent School District in San Antonio. Dr. Fitzwater later became a Professor at Trinity University. While at Trinity, Dr. Fitzwater started a business with his wife Sunny, traveling over 150,000 miles annually in the U.S. and abroad presenting speeches and seminars to educational and other organizations. A noted speaker and author, he was known for his skill and wit and as a master storyteller, often drawing on his experiences growing up in rural Maryland during the Great Depression. Education Magazine listed him among the top five speakers in America. His poem "Only a Teacher?" is considered one of the sublimest expressions of the value and importance of classroom teachers. In 2008, the American Association of School Administrators presented Dr. Fitzwater with the Distinguished Service Award. He is the only civilian to receive the Ira C. Eaker Award, presented by the Center for Professional Development at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.
- "If you plan for a year, plant a seed. If for ten years, plant a tree. If for a hundred years, teach the people. When you sow a seed once, you will reap a single harvest. When you teach the people, you will reap a hundred harvests."
--Kuan Chung
I couldn’t find a biography for this Chinese writer but his quote really attracted my attention.
- "Ideal teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross, then having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create bridges of their own." -- Nikos Kazantzakis
Kazantzakis was born in 1883 in Heraklion. From 1902 Kazantzakis studied law at the University of Athens, then went to Paris in 1907 to study philosophy. In 1945, he became the leader of a small party on the non-communist left, and entered the Greek government as Minister without Portfolio. He resigned this post the following year. In 1946, The Society of Greek Writers recommended that Kazantzakis and Angelos Sikelianos be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. In 1957, he lost the Prize to Albert Camus by one vote. Camus later said that Kazantzakis deserved the honour "a hundred times more" than himself. Late in 1957, even though suffering from leukemia, he set out on one last trip to China and Japan. Falling ill on his return flight, he was transferred to Freiburg, Germany, where he died. He is buried on the wall surrounding the city of Heraklion near the Chania Gate, because the Orthodox Church ruled out his being buried in a cemetery. His epitaph reads "I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free."
References:
http://www.ripplemaker.hubpages.com
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