Teachers Matter : Educational Philosophy and Authentic Learning

Notions of ‘the teacher’ live in the ideas and practices of curriculum and policies; teachers are teachers because they teach. Yet, it matters who teachers are - no attempt at good teaching and learning can manifest without having some idea of who teachers are and who they can become.

Who are our teachers? Should we care about who teaches our children? Because who they are, matters. It matters because who teachers are, manifests in how they teach. The authors’ analyses of prominent teachers in Anglo-Saxon philosophy of education and Muslim philosophy of education, coupled with their own narratives of what it means to be and become a teacher inform the central theme of this book, namely that teachers do matter. In addition, no attempt at good teaching and learning can manifest without having some idea of who teachers are and who they can become. In the main, becoming an authentic teacher can happen only in the presence of what it means for teachers to be or become transformative, dialectical and imaginative, deconstructive and friendly, expositors of equality and disruption, eloquent and conscientious and spiritual. It is such an understanding, which the authors advance and dare to cultivate in our institutions of primary, secondary and higher learning.