Upon reflecting on the texts of the Holy Quran and the purified Sunnah, one can observe the extent of Islam's concern for youth and its commitment to providing proper care for them. This ensures that they grow up in an environment free from moral and behavioral deficiencies and impurities. This is true; for children are the delight of their guardians and the backbone of nations. If their affairs are in order, they become a source of strength and a sign of pride for their communities and nations.
The Role of Educators
While the process of proper, wholesome, and comprehensive upbringing is the responsibility of multiple parties, the educator or teacher represents – after the parents – the central figure in this process. How many great individuals, geniuses, or innovators have attributed their successes throughout their lives to a certain teacher or a group of educators who have left their impact and fingerprints in shaping their personalities, achievements, and talents?
Addressing Psychological Barriers
This remarkable story serves as a living example that embodies the effect of a genius educator in identifying gifted individuals and addressing the psychological and social barriers that may, for certain reasons, hinder the emergence of those wonderful traits.
On the first day of the fifth-grade class after the winter break, one of the teachers stood before her students and conveyed a kind message to them. She looked at her students and said: "I love you all, for you are my children, and I am your educator. I bear the responsibility of caring for you, teaching you, and nurturing you." However, in her heart, she was excluding a student sitting across from her desk named "Teddy Stoddard."
Mrs. Thompson had observed Teddy throughout the previous school year and noted that he did not play with the other children, that his clothes were often dirty, and that he frequently appeared to need a bath. Additionally, he seemed like a person lacking joy, with a veil of sadness on his forehead. It reached a point where Mrs. Thompson found pleasure in correcting his papers with a thick red pen, putting a special mark on them, and then writing the word "Fail" at the top of the page!
In the school where Mrs. Thompson worked, teachers were required to review the previous academic records of each student. She would place Teddy's grades and previous comments at the very end. One day, while reviewing his file, she was startled by something that caught her attention!
Teddy's first-grade teacher had written: "Teddy is a smart child with a cheerful spirit. He completes his assignments meticulously and in an organized manner, and he possesses good morals."
His second-grade teacher wrote: "Teddy is a bright student and well-liked by his classmates, but he is anxious and distressed due to his mother's serious illness, which has made life at home filled with suffering and hardship."
His third-grade teacher noted: "The death of his mother has had a profound impact on him. He tried hard and exerted maximum effort; however, his father was not attentive, and life at home began to negatively affect him unless some interventions were made to address his difficult psychological state."
Meanwhile, his fourth-grade teacher wrote the following words: "Teddy is a withdrawn student who does not show much interest in studying, and he does not have many friends. Sometimes he even falls asleep during class."
The Reality of the Problem
It was only here that Mrs. Thompson realized the reality of the problem. She felt ashamed of herself, and her conscience reproached her for what she had done. Her situation worsened even more when her students brought her Christmas gifts wrapped in beautiful ribbons and shiny paper, except for "Teddy." The gift he presented to her that day was wrapped awkwardly and irregularly, in dark-colored paper that was unsuitable for ordinary gifts, let alone Christmas gifts. It appeared to be taken from the paper bags used for groceries and purchases.
Mrs. Thompson felt great pain as she opened Teddy's gift, while some of the students burst out laughing when she pulled out of his wrapping a necklace made of simple, incomplete stones, and a bottle of perfume that contained only a quarter or a little less. However, those students quickly stopped laughing when Mrs. Thompson expressed her deep admiration for the beauty of that necklace. She hurried to put it around her neck and applied a few drops of the perfume to her wrist. As for "Teddy," he did not go home at the usual time that day; instead, he waited a little while to meet Mrs. Thompson and tell her with a sense of pride and joy mixed with a bit of sadness and pain: "Madam, your scent today is like my mother's scent!"
Motivation is the Path to Excellence
When the students left the schoolyard, Mrs. Thompson’s emotions erupted, and she burst into tears for at least an hour because Teddy had brought her the bottle of perfume that his mother used, and because he found in it the scent of his late mother. From that moment on, Mrs. Thompson decided to expand the lessons she offered to her students to include all subjects, and she paid special attention to the orphaned student, Teddy. As she began to focus on him, she noticed that his mind began to regain its activity. The more she encouraged him, the more responsive he became, and by the end of the school year, Teddy had become one of the most distinguished students in the class and the smartest of them all, becoming one of her favorite students.
A year later, Mrs. Thompson found a note inside her mailbox signed by her student Teddy, in which he wrote to her that she was the best teacher he had ever had in his life. But then, six years passed without her receiving any further notes from him. Later, he wrote to inform her that he had completed high school, achieved an excellent third rank in his class, and that she still held a special place as the best teacher he had encountered in his life.
After four more years, he sent her another letter stating that the academic conditions had become challenging and complicated, that he was residing at college without leaving it, and that he would soon graduate from university with honors. He also confirmed in this letter that she was still his best and most beloved teacher.
Four more years later, she received another letter from him. This time, he clarified that after obtaining his bachelor's degree, he decided to pursue further studies, and he once again assured her that she was the best and most beloved teacher he had known throughout his academic journey. However, this time his name—as stated in the signature—was a bit longer; he was "Dr. Teddy Stoddard!"
A Remarkable Achievement
The story did not stop there; she received another letter from him in the middle of that spring, stating within it: "He has met a girl whose morals and ideas he admires, and he is going to marry her. As he had previously informed her, his father passed away two years ago, so he asked her to come and sit in place of his mother at the upcoming wedding." Of course, Mrs. Thompson agreed to his request without hesitation.
What is remarkable is that when she attended, she was wearing the same necklace that "Teddy" had given her for Christmas many years ago, some of its stones missing. Moreover, he made sure that she was wearing the same perfume that reminded him of his mother on her last birthday!
Before the ceremony began, each embraced the other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson's ear, saying to her: "Thank you, madam, for making me feel important, and that I could be an outstanding, successful, and distinguished person."
Mrs. Thompson replied, with tears filling her eyes: "You are mistaken, Teddy... It was you who taught me how to be an exceptional teacher. I didn’t know how to excel in teaching until I met you in that classroom so many years ago, particularly after I learned your story."
The person shaped by that brilliant teacher was none other than the great world-renowned "Mr. Teddy Stoddard," the famous doctor who has a wing named after the "Stoddard Cancer Treatment Center" at "Methodist Hospital" in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. This center is considered one of the best treatment facilities, not only in the mentioned state but across the entire United States and the world!
The Competent Educator
Life is full of stories and events that, if we reflect on them, provide us with wisdom and lessons. A sound mind never deceives itself by the superficial over the essential, or by appearance over substance, or by form over content. Thus, a competent educator should not rush to conclusions, for the children before him are human souls brimming with emotions, feelings, innocence, and purity. Rather, he should delve into their depths with skill and be knowledgeable about psychologically oriented ideas, aware of the significant factors that negatively or positively impact the human psyche.
A child is not born successful, just as he is not born a failure, a criminal, or deviant. There are circumstances and factors surrounding him that can impact him negatively or positively, and the competent, brilliant educator is one who can uncover those factors, neutralize their negative effects, and restore the psychological or moral aspect of the child who was under their influence, aiming to contribute to building his personality and directing his talents toward distinction. However, hastily recording an observation of "failing" or "not gifted" or something similar without making an effort to uncover the influences of the surrounding factors on the child is an act that does not indicate any distinction, and this is evident to everyone.
