This post on Facebook let me pause. I didn't know how to answer it.
Maybe because for me, teaching was never meant to be a comparison.
I teach because I want to do my job well. I want my students to learn something, understand why it matters, and hopefully use it in their real lives. That's it. Whether I am in a classroom or teaching online with laggy audio and everyone on mute, I keep coming back to that same small goal.
When teaching becomes a contest, I think we all lose a little. I have nothing against awards. I know how much work is behind them. But I have also seen how constant comparison can make us tired. Ryan and Deci (2000) wrote that when external rewards become the main reason for doing something, we can lose the intrinsic joy of the work itself. And honestly, I have felt that.
What helps me refocus is asking a different question:
Not "Am I better than others?" but "Did my students learn something today?"
I used to hear that teaching is about molding students. I understand that idea. We do guide our students to become better individuals. But the word "molding" always bothered me a little. It sounds like students are clay and we are the ones shaping them. What I learned from my Philosophy professor and I believe more deeply is this: teaching frees the mind from ignorance.
That line has stayed with me since I heard my professor mentioned Paulo Freire (1970) in class. He said that education should not be about a teacher depositing knowledge into students, like putting money in a bank. It should be about helping learners develop the ability to think critically about their own lives and make their own choices.
Dewey (1938) said something that felt similar to me — that education is not just preparation for life, it is life itself. If what we teach doesn't connect to their life outside, it won't stay.
And Mezirow (1991) calls that moment when a learner starts to see things differently a transformative moment. I have seen that in small ways. Not dramatic. Just a student who finally says, "Teacher, I can do it!"
For me, this is how that freeing looks in everyday teaching:
First, I try to help them acquire knowledge. Basic, clear, step-by-step. Rosenshine (2012) reminds us that good instruction still matters — explanation, practice, checking understanding.
Second, I try to help them see the significance. Not just what it is, but why it matters. Marton and Säljö (1976) called this the difference between surface learning and deep learning. One is memorizing for the test. The other is understanding enough to say, "I can use this to write an application letter for myself."
Third, I hope they can use it. Even in small ways. The learner who can now help her child with homework. The student who can now answer an email at work in English without fear. That, for me, is already a freed mind. And a freed mind makes better decisions for itself, and quietly influences others to do the same.
I am not the most awarded teacher. I am not the one with the most viral story. I am just a teacher trying to do my job well. And I think many of us are the same.
We teach not to compete with each other, but to make sure learning happens and that learning means something in our students' lives. If we all do that, in our own classrooms and online spaces, I think that is more than enough.
References
Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. Macmillan.
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Herder and Herder.
Marton, F., & Säljö, R. (1976). On qualitative differences in learning: I—Outcome and process. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 46(1), 4–11.
Mezirow, J. (1991). Transformative dimensions of adult learning. Jossey-Bass.
Rosenshine, B. (2012). Principles of instruction: Research-based strategies that all teachers should know. American Educator, 36(1), 12–19.
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