Recently, several Teatro Regina actors and I watched the preview of PETA's multi-awarded musical, "WILLIAM," an awesome production featuring rap and hip-hop songs as a vehicle to present how the study of Shakespeare enriches the lives of a typical Filipino high school class.
The high school students who watched it with me were amazed, not only because of the quality of the production (truly world class!) but also because of how accurately the high school students characters were depicted. "They're EXACTLY like us, when we studied Shakespeare last year!" said one senior. "They have the same thoughts and feelings!"
I told them, "That's because the play was written by a former teacher."
Anyone who has read Frank McCourt's "Teacher Man" or similar literature by teachers will know that educators have a golden opportunity to interact with all sorts of parent and their children. It's one of the things I'm most grateful for, and part of what makes a teacher's life so fascinating.
Year after year, the children in our school come to us from all walks of life, from varying circumstances, and their combined personalities interacting within the classroom make for the most interesting anecdotes and stories! And every PTC season brings with it its share of tales of triumph and woe, where the teacher then becomes part psychotherapist, part marriage counselor (sometimes!), and part father confessor.
I'm grateful because I get to see, on an intimate level, the results of a couple's actions in the personality and physical well-being of their child. I'm not claiming that teachers are experts on bringing children up, of course, nothing can compare to the actual experience of giving birth to a child and bringing him/her up to be a good person. But the advice that teachers can offer to parents comes from the unique perspective that we get as a result of observing soooo many other children. And honestly, I think no crash course in Parenting 101 can be as effective as teaching! If only for the daily insights into the workings of the human soul that it offers.
The one thing I've come to realize is this: All parents love their kids. But not all parents know HOW to act out that affection in the manner that would best benefit their child.
When you love someone, every action you do ought to be for their best interest. Even if it means denying yourself to the point of pain. Because love isn't merely a feeling that runs through one's body; love isn't simply having your picture taken with the beloved, then posting it on Facebook; love is, quite simply, the Cross. The Crucifix. Love made flesh.
Whenever I get exhausted from the daily challenges of teaching life, I just remember to look up at the body of the best Teacher man ever had, and I know I can't fail. He won't let me.
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