Endangered Teacher

Are teachers endangered?

That was a thought that kept on going through my head while I read these posts. I sometimes get the idea that teachers fear digital pedagogy - not because they can't use it - but because it makes them feel replaceable.

A teacher can never remember everything Google can. A teacher can never be there 24/7. A teacher most definitely won't be able to fit into your pocket. A teacher will never be able to show you the world the way Discovery can (not on our salary at least). And a teacher won't be able to entertain you the way YouTube can.

Basically, everything to be found in a textbook or in the curriculum, can be found online. There are online schools (even if they are bad, they are still there), millions of journal articles and billions of videos, all with content that can possibly contribute to knowledge building. 

We as teachers need to redefine our roles. We need to play to our strengths. We may not have infinite memory or information, but we do have real life experience. We experience and share life with the learners in our class. We get to  see how they grow and who they become. We get to have the immense privilege to see them become human. And we need to use that very humanness to shape our pedagogy. 

I love how Jesse Stommel said "The digital pedagogue teaches her tools, she doesn’t let them teach her." That's exactly what we need to be doing. We need not fear digital pedagogy. We might just as well wipe the word digital and just call it pedagogy. We can not be intimidated by a mere tool. We must manipulate the tools at our disposal to facilitate growth and learning, no matter what the tool is. It is in our very nature to use what is around us to better ourselves. By using any tools around us, even if it's the oldest book or the newest tablet, we must model that to our learners.  

We need to be pioneering and modelling inquisitive mindsets and curiosity. We need to model positive attitudes towards others.  The medium of subject content may have changed slightly from a textbook to an e-book or from a chalk board to a PowerPoint, but it actually doesn't matter. In some classes every child has a tablet, in others some might not even have a desk. We just need to use what is relevant in our classrooms. Our pedagogy is not defined by what we use, but rather how and why we use what is around us.

Teachers are not endangered. Some methods we used 50 years ago may be, but that does not seem to be a great evil. But teachers are vital. We are the pedagogues. We are the ones reading the nuances in class. We are the ones who can spot the sadness or frustration in a child's eyes. We are the ones who lead by example that unconditional acceptance is valuable and that kindness is more than just words. We need to play the role of facilitating their journey through the moans and groans of life. Show me a Google that can do that.