Note: The following article has been re-edited from its original form, first published in ELT-Vista in 2005.

As I mentioned in the previous post, this blog has evolved from a magazine I used to publish called ELT-Vista. Now, upon deciding for a name for the publication, I heard that Microsoft had announced that their new, though eventually ill-fated, PC operating system would be named Windows-Vista. I thought the word ‘vista’ had potential since to me the word had an arts connotation … and obviously some built-in marketing ‘oomph’ compliments of Bill Gates and company!

Before finalizing my decision, I thought I would ask a few students and colleagues to define the word ‘vista’ for me, just to see what images the word conjured for them. For the most part, they suggested the following: a beautiful view that one reflects on from a high place; an outlook or mental view embracing a series of events; a range of exciting or worrying new ideas and possibilities; the possibility or prospect of new experiences or events.

Relatedly, the name ‘vista’ was chosen, in both cases, in the hopes that this content would inspire a new vista of ideas and opportunities for teachers, both personally and professionally. A good place to start, in this respect, is by asking you, dear reader, to reflect on your own motivation, desires and sources of inspiration.

You see, at the foundation of all personal and professional ventures is the desire to succeed. To motivate our drive for that often illusive ‘carrot’, we therefore seek inspiration. So, where do you find your inspiration to teach others? Does it perhaps come from your own ‘inner-student’?

Here’s a ‘hands-on’ task to help you answer the questions above. Below are some education related quotes for your consideration. Read each quote, them reflect on its meaning and ponder its effect on you as a teacher. Jot down the ones you feel a special connection with or that inspire you.

• Leo Buscaglia – No teacher has taught anything to anyone. People learn themselves. If we look at the word educator it comes from the Latin “educare” meaning to lead, to guide. That’s what it means, to guide, to be enthusiastic yourself, to understand yourself and to put this stuff before others…
• Oscar Wilde – The door to success is labeled PUSH.
• Henry David Thoreau – Any fool can make a rule.
• Abraham Maslow – If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to treat everything as though it were a nail.
• Benjamin Franklin – Tim was so learned that he could name a horse in nine languages; so ignorant that he bought a cow to ride on.
• James Thurber – So much has already been written about everything that you can’t find out anything about it.
• Robert Browning – Man’s reach must exceed his grasp, else what’s a heaven for?
• Charles Schultz – The secret to speed reading is moving your lips faster.
• Ralph Waldo Emerson – The years teach much which the days never know.
• Henry Brooks Adams – A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.
• Mark Twain – I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.
• Isaac Asimov – Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is.
• T.S. Eliot – We must never cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time.
• Albert Einstein – The important thing is not to stop questioning.
• B. F. Skinner – Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.
• Jane Goodall – Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference.
• Winston Churchill – We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
• Mahatma Gandhi – Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.
• Albert Einstein – Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
• Henry Miller – One’s destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.

Ok, now take off your teacher ‘hat’ and replace it with your ‘student’ hat. Read each quote again and, as above, reflect on its meaning and effect on you as a student. Again, jot down the ones you feel a special connection with as a student. Do this now.

After doing so, consider the following questions:

– Did you make note of the same quotes as a teacher as you did as a student? If not, ask yourself why.

– Did you disagree or react negatively to any of these quotes? Why do you think this is so? Was is it the teacher in you talking or the student? Which of these quotes would you share with a colleague? How about your students?

– Can you relate any of these quotes to teaching techniques you employ?

Somewhere in the answers to these questions is the reason this blog was created, and perhaps even the reason why you became a teacher. Do you enjoy a good quote? If you have any to share, especially one that motivates you, comment on it below. After all, everyone enjoys a good quote, right? 😉

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