It’s Not What You Teach, It’s What Kind of Teacher You Are | Gregory Chahrozian | TEDxAUA

foreign what if teachers realize that the most important thing they teach they don't actually teach I started teaching around about 20 years ago and for me it was very scary on that very first day you ask any teacher it could be the scariest day of their life I had to walk through this long Courtyard with hundreds of googly eyes just staring at me that's the new sign you signature no it's not I like his tie he looks strict I heard he plays football professionally before I even met them before I even opened my mouth they

had formed a perception of who I was or who I might be this was taught to me by my very first mentor an older gentleman ironically about to retire he pulled me aside one day and he said Greg never walk around the school without a piece of paper in your hand I was confused and thought what on Earth is this guy talking about so he pulled me aside and sat me down and said that the piece of paper is to give the perception that you're busy you're doing something important and you're always up to something

perception my dear Gregory it's all about permission so how perceptive were you when you think back I want you to think about your teachers what do you remember about them the good the bad or even your current teachers when they stand before you what is it that you absorb and observe is it the zest for life their sense of humor or is it their kindness their tolerance acceptance and fairness you see none of the above is explicitly taught when you're obtaining an educational degree they definitely weren't taught to me so where did I get them

from German you know educational hierarchy or experts or the curriculum no they were modeled to me by my role models my teachers I had some amazing teachers and I've had some horrible ones too but I could see them all there in front of me every single one of them the way they looked the way they spoke even the way they walked but most importantly I remember how they made me feel and how they inspired me for example my art teacher was a petite scruffy nail-biting mumbling man but he was an amazing artist far too talented

to be teaching at a secondary school I used to remember running to his classes just to see what magic he would conjure up that day I loved art but I probably love football more so it was a surprise to me to see him on the football field during the teacher versus student game he was fast he was skillful and I think he too played professionally when he was younger you see my art teacher reinforced to never judge a book by its cover to be humble and to be caring my English and science teachers were actually

a married couple I adored them she was a strong intelligent elegant lover of linguist he was relaxed fun well groomed scientist when it came time for them to start a family they disappeared for a while on maternity and paternity leave respectively but only one of them came back she came back he stayed at home to look after their child now this was 30 years ago at an all-boy School that singular event taught me that gender roles shouldn't be locked or defined talking about families we know how important families are to establishing the foundations to who

we become our parents are able to create an identity for us as we grow now this could only be I guess challenged or there's only one entity or person that could come close to your family or to your parents that's your teacher a teacher spends a considerable amount of time with their students on average over nineteen thousand hours in a lifetime now that's plenty of time for a teacher to layer their students with their personalities likewise that's plenty of time for the student to layer their own personalities with the positive things they see in their

teachers to accept those that are favorable and hopefully to reject those less favorable in the educational world teachers act as parents it's known as in loco parentis teachers are given the responsibility to act in the best interests of their students and to treat them like their own I know I treat my students like my own always have and always will so the important thing about the relationship that is formed between a student and a teacher is an extremely amazing Bond we think about how important these bonds are I remember a parent-teacher interview I feel sorry

for that child his father was very angry that day he wasn't doing well academically and he wasn't doing well behaviorally in class he turned around to his son and said when you're at home I'm your father but when you're at school Mr scherzing's your father I've never forgotten that day at all we have a similar saying here in Armenia when translated it's your teacher is your second parent going back to the bonds that are formed between a teacher and a student they are special they are amazing and it's something that only a teacher will ever

feel these bonds are created because there's a lot of patience a lot of trust a lot of kindness and care and a lot of respect they should not be taken for granted and both parties need to put into this relationship both teacher and student now when these bonds are nourished and supported Society benefits also you see great teachers create great learners and great Learners hopefully become great citizens no pressure teachers William surreyon in our an Armenian American novelist once said kids are always the only future the human race has I've always believed wholeheartedly in that

statement and I'm sure a lot of other Educators do too so those who are in education or those wanting to be educators let us strive to have an impact and mold the future for the better one student at a time that's why I got into teaching to have an influence and touch so many people's lives and to make a difference in this world if you are a student I want you to look beyond your exams and your grades take the time to appreciate the teachers in front of you absorb as much as you can from

them because there is so much there that you could learn someone once told me that perception is a powerful tool students will learn more from you without even opening a book thank you