I realize that I’ve lost my interest in being a teacher. (…) I realize that I’m only interested in being a learner, preferably learning things that matter, that have some significant influence on my behavior.
Carl Rogers

We are born learning. The wheel of life revolves on Earth as surely as the planets revolve around the sun. Learning permeates our lives from A to Z. And the teacher is usually a learner who has accepted this truism, thus, making a professional living out of the learning process.

The beginning of term is always an important reminder for us that it’s never too late to learn a new skill or gain a new qualification, or explore a potential hobby, or brush up an existing expertise. This thought in itself can be extremely inspiring to both students and teachers.

The beginning of term is also our chance to establish some of the ground rules which will guide us internally as an institution. This year we are all faced with an unprecedented opportunity (or challenge). We nicknamed it THE CULTURA EXPERIENCE and it encompasses a lot of what we believe learning a foreign language should comprise.

One such idea, a basic assumption of the communicative approach, is that in order to talk we need to have – first and foremost – something to talk about. Needless to say, it helps if what we talk about has a certain appeal to our listeners! Or, as a corollary, interesting people tend to make interesting teachers.

In my attempt to turn myself into an interesting person, I came across the lessons of a number of Humanistic psychologists and educators. Stevick reminds us: "Skilled and sensitive understanding of another person can release that other person’s whole self so it can deal adequately with whatever needs to be dealt with, whether cognitive or otherwise." (my emphasis)

Humanism may require not only learning a skill, but also sensitivity on the part of the teacher. One is inconceivable without the other. Sensitivity to deal with the diversity and the differences which always emerge when human beings are brought together. From this perspective, I may embrace differences because I understand that the world is paradoxically made up of unique individuals who need to express their views in order to actualize themselves (i.e. live, not just survive). In other words, I have the right to be myself, but so has everyone else.

When I’m ready to embrace differences, situations in which I can learn from a fellow human being abound. A newspaper will take you there, so will a good book. A cup of coffee with a close friend, a chat standing in a line, a park bench, an incident witnessed from the window of a bus, a good film.

The recently-released documentary about the poet Manoel de Barros is an exemplary path towards personal empowerment of the kind I've been talking about. After all, who could be closer to the essence of Humanism than a poet? Manoel informs us: “I intend to renew human beings using butterflies.”

That’s for enlightened beings. I wish I could say I was there, but it would sound both facetious and ironic, given the nature of this text. Right now, I delight in being an adventurous learner on the way, crawling – baby style. Right now, my plan is more modest: I intend to renew myself using Manoel in all his humanism and wisdom.