Learn what qualities are needed to become the best-possible death education teacher and get inspired to teach your own class!
In this episode I focus once again on death education and talk about the qualities that are best suited to teaching this subject matter. Find out if you would be a good teacher and what subject and students are ideal for your knowledge and experience.
Get the Teaching Guidelines for a Death & Dying Class here!
You’ll be on the list to learn more about upcoming work groups to help you put together you own class!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
You can still sign up for A Year of Reading Dangerously here (we’re having so much fun reading a book a month about death, dying and the afterlife!)
THANK YOU to my latest supporter at Patreon.com/eolu: Janel Barthe! Also thank you to Suzanne O’Brien of Doulagivers™ who has been supporting this podcast for over a year and is one of our biggest donors! Your encouragement and contribution to this work means everything to me! Go to Patreon.com/eolu if you’d like to join and become a patron – you’ll get access to the monthly Q&A call (Hospice Happy Hour) among other benefits!
FEATURE PRESENTATION:
Today I’m sharing some thoughts on what it takes to teach a death and dying class as part of my ongoing focus on death education for 2018!
To find out what you should teach and who your students should be consider your Passion, Knowledge and Experience. Make a list for each category:
- What subject are you most passionate about in the end-of-life area?
- What knowledge and training do you have in this area and in other subjects? What type of work have you done in the past?
- What life experience have you acquired related to death and dying?
Try to find the overlap between these 3 lists. Ask yourself: what training or work history do you have that you could use to find students with whom you can share your passion and life experience? For example: if you have had a career in law enforcement, have been a hospice volunteer, and are passionate about helping people deal with grief then teaching law enforcement officers how to manage feelings of grief and trauma after being exposed to death in the field might be a perfect fit for you.
The qualities that will help you be a great teacher are:
- Passion for your subject – choose the area that most makes you light up and your students will love learning from you
- Flexibility – be able to change your focus on short notice based on the needs of your students and the events of life around you
- Creativity – utilize your own inspiration to bring innovative ideas for activities, projects and field trips to your classroom
- Curiosity – be a student yourself, always learning something new that you can bring to the classroom. Your syllabus will stay relevant and you will avoid burning out!
- Open-mindedness – set aside your own agendas so that you can guide students to their own individual conclusions, even if they don’t agree with you; be able to let go of your attachments to the outcome of your teaching.
Even if you don’t feel like you are strong in all of these qualities don’t give up on the idea of being a death and dying teacher! You can keep growing and developing yourself as you teach others. Also don’t be afraid to get more education for yourself before you start teaching if there are subjects you still need to explore.
Tune in every Monday for a new episode and if you enjoy this content please leave a review on iTunes (it really helps!) Check out Patreon.com/eolu if you’d like to be a supporter!
Until next week remember …
Face Your Fear BE Ready Love Your Life
