A look within

I'm sure that this is not unique to me - I hate to be wrong.

And I think teachers hate to be wrong as well. If you think back, those teachers that were steadfast in their pedagogy, did not take well to criticism. And most likely, their classes were a little bit boring or ineffective. I might argue that it may be due to the fact that they did not want to admit that what they were doing may not be the best for the learners. I believe to their mind it was great, but only because they were not willing to look into themselves, be honest and admit that there might be more than one way to go about things.

I really liked how Willis was willing to look into herself. She realized that the problem was not necessarily with her as a person or with the learners, but rather with her approach. Her willingness to adapt was what changed chaos into a very productive and special class. She modeled mindfulness in that. This is an essential skill for teachers: reflecting, adapting and being okay with being wrong the first time around.

Cultivating a classroom with meaningful involvement will start with a teacher that is meaningfully involved. This involvement starts with meaningful relationships with students. This includes that the teachers have meaningful interactions with the students on various levels.

Teachers should model positive relationships among colleagues and students. Teachers should know to some extent where the children are coming from and who their parents are. They should know how sport and art and music will influence their learners. They should be aware of the relationships and climate among the learners.  That is why communication and trust is so important between teachers and learners. The classroom should be structured in such a way that the emotional climate should be inviting and safe. This can be done by being constant and predictable in your own emotions and by always setting time aside to listen.

It is also important to remember that feedback is a critical part of any meaningful relationship, because it directs the other in their conduct within that relationship. In a teaching context, feedback needs to be both emotional and academic. This feedback is also not just from us to them, but also from them to us. Meaningful interaction will thus only take place if we interact as much as they do on their level. This means that we might actually take directions from them from time to time. Using the curriculum and other tools to your disposal in an innovative way will contribute to this.

Actually, teachers just need to think about everything ever, Then you cannot afford to be arrogant enough to think that you are never wrong. Be brave. Eat some humble pie and have a look at yourself. It may be awkward to be wrong, but we are acting in the interest of other, not to serve our own egos.

I don't want to be a teacher anymore

"Inspiration, hunger: these are the forces that drive good schools. The best we educational planners can do is to create the most likely conditions for them to flourish and then get out of their way". - Ted Sizer

The Independent Project touched a nerve in me. I wish I had the chance to be in that learning environment. I can just imagine that my life would be quite different. How did some teacher who doesn't even know me manage to get the power to decide what the content of my mind should look like? How dare they?

How dare I follow in their footsteps?

The standards of our educational system do generate a culture of silence. They silence our spirits, they blunt our edges, they limit our creativity. This sounds like torture, but somehow this is exactly what high school looked like for me and probably still looks like for many others. The relationship of teacher and learner seems to be doomed to stay static for ever. 

A week ago I was pretty sure that teachers will not be replaced by technology, and I still kind of feel that way. But I think teachers are going to be replaced by teenagers. I actually kind of hope teachers will be replaced by teenagers. It's scary to think that it is possible. Kids deciding what they want to learn about? What does that mean for grades? What is an A and what is a fail? How will textbooks cover anything and everything? Will the learning be deep enough? How do universities decide if you know enough to become a certain somebody? Will certain somebodies still exist? Will degrees still exist?

Lines blur and my head starts hurting. This way of doing will disrupt society in a way we will never be able to imagine. It sounds wonderful and magical and chaotic, but I believe innovation is born from chaos.

To come back from this tangent, what does this mean for teachers? Where do we start? How do we use our tools? We need to connect students with questions, with information, with sources, with other students across the world. We need to teach them skills to navigate their own knowledge journey, wherever that may lead them. And most importantly, we need to support their endeavours. We need to make them feel okay with the notion that not everyone needs to be the same type of intelligent. 

We need to open our minds and open our classroom to the world. We need to take a back seat in the lives of our learners and let them guide us to where they want to be. We should be backseat drivers, pointing out possible accidents or helping to decide what turn to take when they come to a junction. We as future teachers should stop thinking that teenagers will die without us, They really won't. They might actually not just exist, but thrive. Why does that scare us so much? Maybe because our role might change drastically or that we may even not be needed. That might just suit me, because I don't want to be a teacher that limits someone.

I would rather just get out of their way.