18.02.2009
THE POWER OF WORDS
THE POWER OF WORDS…
By Galina Charkova, International School of Tomorrow teacher of English
It is a special honor for me, as an English teacher, to share with you an article in our professional journal, The Accelerator. I would be so grateful if you could find something interesting in some of the issues mentioned there.
The main message of this article is the power of words. To explain the whole idea, there is need to deviate… deliberately. This is for the sake of making the picture vivid and closer to life realities. Actually, it is not about words and its impact on people, but about the visual aspect of communication. It is about gestures that bring us in touch with more natural human communication.
To support this statement, I quote a Russian world-famous ballerina, still dancing in her 8O-ties. She said in one of her interviews in the Moscow News: "I am strongly inclined to think that in the beginning was not the Word, but in the beginning was the Gesture..." And, indeed, while we are sojourners in this time and place, the gesture is the initial brighting up or discouraging means of contact. To put it scientifically - it is already part of meta-communication.... In terms of our everyday life, sometimes just an expression on the face, the light of the eyes, cheerful gestures, plus two or three words are enough to express human feelings. And for all these things I am so grateful to my colleagues: native and non-native speakers of English in our school. Thank you!
Now it is time to pay due homage to the Word itself in its historically based background. No doubt one of the strongest tools in the professional teacher ship is the Holy Bible - Old and New Testaments. Both of these parts of the Bible are of great importance personally to me as a teacher and to a multitude of nations.
First of all, the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 of the Old Testament carry its educational message from the times of Moses to all the nations up to these times and the times ahead. And secondly, because of our sinful nature which we find described in the New Testament in Matthew 6:9-13 in the Lord's Prayer or Pater Noster. There are slight differences in wording and use of grammar tenses according to my research in different sources, but no doubt it is an illustrating example of how to talk to the Creator in the silence of our hearts. You can imagine how our aspirations can differ but we all need communion time with Him. The way to God, The Infinite Intelligence is not the same for all of us - it depends on personal and individual preferences.
One thing is very definite - it is the privilege and responsibility of educators to bring light, peace and hope to young children hearts and to give them a chance to live Godly lives. We have to protect them from wrongdoing. I dare to hope that all these clues to this delicate subject may prove my strong stand and adherence to the values of Biblically-based education.
I would like to share my motto as a teacher and a person with you. I will cite it in the order of importance to me and to my students. It has guided me in my life and on my professional road. The first wise saying is: "Education will make you a living, and self-education will make you a fortune." I always feel the deep thought-provoking nature of these words because it makes young minds think and bring a change to their attitude for their future. The second one is a Chinese proverb (according to the newspaper "English" for teachers of English}: "Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere." It may sometimes change life values systems and also open new approaches to investigating what learning, knowledge and wisdom are. The idea of the third saying is: "Better untaught than ill-taught." It reminds us of the high professionalism and of the great responsibility we carry throughout our pedagogical careers.
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