For me, teaching is the joy of sharing knowledge, understanding, and wisdom with others.
I use the word joy quite specifically here, because for me, the classroom is a place full of it. Not joy in the sense of “fun” and “entertainment”, but in the sense that in every lesson I teach, I feel something profoundly life-affirming.
As a teacher, my role is to lead a space where my students and I explore the most significant questions of human experience: Who are we? How do we make sense of the reality we experience? What does it mean to live well? The classroom is a space where we encounter ideas, worldviews, and entire realities, and where we are enriched in the process of doing so.
I teach English and Philosophy. In both disciplines, students study texts. A text is a human being’s inner world, communicated to us in writing, through speaking, or indeed, through audio-visual or visual media. With every text that we read, hear, or watch, we are in dialogue with another human being, and so we are able to experience an entire new perspective and expand the limits of our consciousness.
When one reads Shakespeare’s Macbeth, they gain insight into the folly of ambition, and into the darkness that envelops us when we abandon ourselves to it. Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go provides a deeply moving reflection on human mortality and the importance of love. Maya Angelou’s poetry offers a glimpse into the horrors of injustice and the triumph of liberation. In my classes, students and I encounter such texts, and together, we make sense of them and their richness, in the service of growing and becoming more fully human.
Therefore, once again: for me, teaching is the joy of sharing knowledge, understanding, and wisdom with others. I teach so that students are able simply to know more about the perspectives and ideas that exist around them. I teach so that students can fully grasp the complexity of the rich and beautiful world that they live in. And, above all else, I teach so that students can use their knowledge and understanding to live wisely, in a manner that is examined. For me, this is deeply meaningful and existentially fulfilling work. And thus, it is joyful.
Vincent Chiang
Teacher of English & Philosophy
About Vincent Chiang
Vincent Chiang (OM 2010) commenced teaching English and Philosophy & Religious Studies in the Senior School at Melbourne Grammar in 2018. He holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honours from the ANU as well as a Master of Teaching from Deakin University.
As a student at Melbourne Grammar School, Vincent was the recipient of numerous academic awards, including a Premier’s VCE Award in 2009 for his outstanding result in Classical Societies and Cultures, and again in 2010 for Literature. Vincent was Vice-Captain of Rusden, Captain of Debating, Captain of the Symphonic Wind Ensemble and acted in several School productions during his final year at the School.
