“Far, far away in the abode of the great god Indra, the king of heaven, hangs a wondrous vast net, much like a spider’s web in structure, intricacy and awesomeness. It stretches out indefinitely in all directions. At each connection point of the net hangs a single glittering jewel.  The sparkling jewels hang there, suspended, connected and supported by the net, glittering like stars, dazzling to behold….” 

I share this Hindu story with 125 Teachers as they gather together for their beginning of the year meeting. Their eyes are closed. They imagine the net and the jewels and how one jewel reflects all the other jewels in the net so that the reflection in each jewel is itself infinite. 

I wonder to myself in this moment, Do they think I’m nuts? I breathe deeply and re-member how much we humans – young or old – love sharing and being nurtured by storytelling . I breathe and continue.

“Know that you are a sparkling jewel in Indra’s net, as is every person around you.”
There are a few hums in the room, a couple of sighs and a few nod their heads.
“Every jewel is connected with all the other jewels in the net. Every person is intimately connected with all the other persons in the universe. And we are each a reflection of one another. A change in one jewel—or person—produces a change, however slight, in every other.” 

They open their eyes and they look to me to continue. I sense there is an understanding in a cognitive way to this story and at the same time an uneasy feeling as to how this really translates in their lives, into their classrooms.  I allow them to sit a few moments longer in the tension, in the gap of knowing and not knowing.  

What makes a highly effective teacher?
  
Ask any person who has been taught, in any variety of settings. Ask them to remember that “one” Teacher, the one who inspired, motivated and loved them. Ask them to name one quality of that Teacher and you will find “loving”, “caring”, “calm”, and “encouraging” often top the list.   

How do we measure that? 
 
As an Integral Master Coach™, clients often come to me struggling to love parts of their self. There is some small part of them that was vaulted away as a child, often as a way to preserve the relationship between the parent and child.  They often cognitively do not know it, but it reveals itself though through their seeking: “I want to be more confident,” “I want to have better balance in my life,” “I want to be more emotionally stable,”  “I want to step into my purpose in life”.  

In the process of becoming more fully integrated, a client is assessed through their own unique constellation.  Identifying their areas of challenge and leveraging their strengths. The gap is closed as they transcend and include their current way of being and allow their new way of being to grow and develop through the strengthening of new awareness and skills. From bringing what was in the dark to the light.    

Clients who have been through this Coaching process walk away with new ways of being more present in their life. Through the “re-membering” of their self,  they now access to more energy, more love, more understanding and ultimately feel more alive.  For a Teacher, this effect directly and positively impacts their students.

How do you measure the love, caring, calm, encouragement of a Teacher?

This question can be answered with another question: How does the Teacher love, care and encourage  their self? How we treat our self is also how we treat others. A Teacher who is not present to their own  vaulted away parts, will likely, when feeling challenged, exhausted, or overburdened, connect from this unaware, unconscious part of self.  

I continue with the Teachers. We move together through the tension of what it really means for them to be a part of this interconnected system of this school. This closing of the gap and the illumination of parts of self is the Living Transformation of a human. It is the Living Transformation of the relationship between student and teacher in a classroom and throughout entire schools systems.

Together, this faculty has begun a multi-year commitment to become more conscious, to develop personal mastery, and to undo old mental models. We work within a shared vision as each holds their form within their Team of Learning and come to a deeper understanding of the System of Interdependence.

Today each Teacher walks away with a greater sense of who they are. There is greater appreciation for their own uniqueness, a gentler view of their pitfalls, and an excitement and willingness to continue to grow, transform and re-member.
 
Micheline Green, M.Ed is an Integral Master Coach™ and a Certified School Counselor. She is the founder of The Essence of a Teacher, and Pure Essence Parenting. She guides Teachers, Schools and Parents through the closing of the gap to move beyond the current mind sets and skill sets of raising and teaching children.