I have been watching these videos (see below); they are from a documentary released in 2003, called "Children Full of Life" (original Japanese title, "Namida to warai no happî kurasu: 4 nen 1 kumi Inochi no jugyôon"), directed by Noboru Kaetsu, on the Japanese school teacher, Toshiro Kanamori.
He is an example of those individuals who are teachers by vocation (not because of their degree or job title); people who not only know how to facilitate and inspire learning in others, but in his case, inspiring children to live as a healthy people who know how to express their feelings in a healthy way ("emotional intelligence"), to stand up for what is important, for what they believe. To know their own truth, and to be heard, sharing it...in sum, to be happy and to live fully as human beings.
Mr. Kanamori is an inspiration not only to teachers, but more importantly, to those of us who are “teachers by default”--us parents, transformed into educators via the birth of our children.
As mothers and fathers, we are free to choose the legacy we will leave our children in what they learn from us, from our example. There’s a quote I heard somewhere that captures this: “I can be my parent’s daughter, or I can be my child’s mother”.
The difference between the two is found in simply becoming conscious.
It's never to late to be the parent you truly want to be.
I hope you enjoy them.
