The Time Someone Once Gave Us

Daybook October 19

An invitation to teach often arrives when there is already little room in the day. There is work to finish, a journey to make, and preparation that will take longer than the invitation suggests. The first thing we see is another commitment. Then, sometimes, we remember a person. It may be a nurse who explained a difficult decision, or someone who answered a question again without making the learner feel small. These are ordinary examples, not a report of one person’s history. Yet they remind us that expertise grows through more than individual effort. Someone else’s time becomes part of what we can now do. As we become more capable, it is easy to lose sight of that time. Gratitude brings it back into view. It does not erase our work or deny what we have achieved. It helps us see the conditions that made learning possible. A patient explanation may have given us more than information. It may have made it possible to ask the next question. Remembering this can change the meaning of a request to teach. We may see a chance to offer someone else the kind of learning we once needed. Teaching becomes a way of carrying something forward. The learner does not have to repay the teacher in the same form. What mattered in that relationship can take another shape, with another person. Still, gratitude deserves space to remain a choice. A willing teacher has limits, and an invitation should leave room to discuss them. Saying that preparation needs time, or that only part of a task can be accepted, can be a responsible way of taking education seriously. The value of a contribution does not depend on saying yes to every request. For nursing organisations, this is a practical question as well as an ethical one. Who has time to teach? Whose preparation is recognised? Who can ask for help with an educational role? When support is uneven, the same generous people may keep being asked to fill the gap. Appreciation alone cannot settle those questions. The time we received can become time we offer. It can also become a clear explanation, a carefully prepared resource, or a question that allows a learner to speak. There are many ways to continue a good teaching relationship. What we carry forward should make room for the next learner and for the person who teaches.

— © cyberrn · Daybook Series