Talking from experience, I should be the first to admit that take off of a beginner is usually rough, a little turbulent and understandably riddled with daunting teething challenges. This is the more reason new and inexperienced teachers require a mentor to hand hold them in their fledgling careers. So it is ideal for teachers beginning their teaching duties to find a welcoming and readily available shoulder to lean on. But the stark reality at the work environment is that the supporting environment is not assured. New employees, especially those kick starting their professional lives with high sounding qualifications, suffer from benign neglect.
The assumption is that since new arrivals who present sound academic credentials are over qualified for the jobs they have been offered, they should therefore be able to stand on their feet, unaided ,right on day one. But nothing can be further from the truth. The truth is that new arrivals badly need experienced professional anchors to show them the ropes and how best to navigate their way in their unfamiliar territory. But in the dog eat dog work milieu, people just mind their own business and space. Silos are fully entrenched resulting in a situation where seasoned and veteran employees shirk their responsibility of showing the new entrants the ropes. Personally, I suffered from some degree of neglect when I started my teaching career. I began my teaching job at a time when most, if not all teachers at the junior secondary schools, were diploma holders. As the only degree holder at the time, I was treated differently and with indifference. To be fair to my colleagues, I don’t think the ‘treatment’ was out of any malice. Rather it was a sign of respect for the qualification one had and the university that produced it. Little did they realise that I needed them perhaps more than they needed me.
The atmosphere was not as warm as it should be. One could sense the attitude in the air that “let us see how his lofty qualifications would help him do the business.” Sadly, qualification is not all a professional needs. With the benefit of hindsight now, I know why the take off was a little uncomfortable albeit not entirely insurmountable. Minus experience or the services of a mentor, one must, however, soldier on and find his or her way at the work place. After all, clients deserve quality service. The experience or otherwise of the employee is neither here nor there. This is where passion becomes critically paramount and relevant. The love for the job makes one dig deep and strive to give the best of one’s version. Passion gives one power, energy and resilience to navigate a terrain that is not too easy to deal with. From my little experience gathered over the last three decades in the noble job of teaching, I can confidently settle for passion as the most potent tool one needs and must have in order to serve customers with distinction. Passion is universally applicable to any work environment but appears to be indispensable on the teaching and learning front. Students easily get endeared to teachers who demonstrate complete and unquestionable devotion to their teaching responsibilities.
The attitude of the teacher determines the altitude of the students. Students tend to pay back or reciprocate the efforts of teachers who relentlessly push them to become their best versions. It is almost impossible to make students love a subject if the one offering the subject does not show enough zeal and enthusiasm. The teaching profession is littered with many examples of teachers who are thriving in their duties not on account of experience but because they are driven by a passionate spirit. There are quite a number of young and inexperienced teachers who have gained a reputation for outsmarting their experienced peers. Having some suffered from the pain and indignity of having been in the ranks of the unemployed for some considerable length of time, the young graduates join the employed ranks with a burning desire to prove their mettles and to make a profound difference. When working with student achievement data, it is not uncommon to discover that a newly employed teacher outperforms those boasting years of experience.
And some of these novice teachers have been left to their own devices to manage their students to academic prosperity. Good academic results coming from inexperienced and un-mentored hands is a clear demonstration of the efficacy and power of passion. Of course, I cannot deny that a combination of experience and passion is ideal and can do our schools a world of good. But unfortunately, the two, unlike siamese twins, do not always go hand in hand. In fact sometimes due to several factors, which include frustration emanating from unmet expectations, experienced people without passion tend to fade away and fizzle out in the process. It is common to hear people lamenting that they used to give their all to the job but have now slowed down due to lack of motivation or professional advancement.
The truth is that lack of promotions have destroyed promising careers. Some productive and effective employees have gone into early and unplanned retirements due to frustrating circumstances at the work place. But passion is sustainable as it keeps the fire burning at all times. Passionate people can endure and withstand adversity and continue to thrive against all odds. Passionate people are not seasonal performers, they do not flatter to deceive. They mean business ensuring they bring their best selves to their jobs and while endeavouring to get better and better. Whereas experience can give birth to complacency and indifference, passion is a continous energiser of the mind and soul. It nourishes and replenishes the energies of employees, constantly reminding them of the purpose for which they were employed. Passion is intrinsic motivation making employees rise to the challenges and to continue to serve even where there is a glaring drought of extrinsic motivating factors. Of the two factors influencing performance, I place my bet (my last penny) on passion. This is not in any way to underestimate the worth of experience. Experience matters but passion matters more.
