Why Great Teachers Never Keep Their Best Knowledge to Themselves
A teacher who consistently received award-winning prizes year after year was known for producing some of the brightest students in her community. Surprisingly, it was discovered that she freely shared her knowledge, ideas and teaching strategies with other teachers.
The teacher once said, “I never keep what I know to myself. If something I have learned can make another teacher better, I share it freely.”
Amazed, the reporter asked, “How can you afford to share your best ideas with others? What if they eventually become better than you?”
She smiled and replied, “Then I have succeeded twice—once in becoming better myself, and again in helping someone else become better.”
Then, she gave an analogy and explained:
“The wind picks up pollen from the ripening maize and carries it from field to field. If my neighbours grow inferior maize, cross-pollination will gradually affect the quality of my own maize. If I am to grow good maize, I must help my neighbours grow a good crop.”
Knowledge is not diminished when it is shared. It multiplies.
The teacher understood that the quality of those around her would eventually influence the quality of the environment they all shared. If she wanted to see better teachers, better learners, better generation and better results, she could not afford to keep her best ideas to herself.
Call it the power of collectivity or teamwork. Call it a principle of success. Call it a law of life. Whatever you call it, the fact remains:
“None of us truly wins until we all win.”
In life, when you help the people around you become better, you don’t become less; you become part of something greater.
Thus, you create an environment where everyone grows—and when everyone grows, everyone has a better chance to flourish.