I have a passion for learning and working with students to help them see and develop their own lives as being meaningfully unique. Having quit my teaching job last year, I recently realized I'm also a highschool dropout, something I've written a few posts about lately. My adult sons say that I have finally graduated. Perspective matters.
Who am I
It's pretty hard to stand outside myself and see what others see, knowing even they aren't seeing the same "me." After attending my aunt's 75 birthday yesterday, I was reminded how different she is from my mother, her sister, and it made me reflect on how my home environment shaped me. Neither of my parents, now 83, went beyond grade school, yet when my oldest siblings headed off to university, my parents went and got their GED. Not having a lot of money, they were resourceful, growing food for freezing and canning and catching sucker fish from ditches (also canned). My dad was an auto mechanic and wasn't afraid to fix or build anything for the house. From this, I've internalized the belief that if something needs to get done, you learn how to it. (Still not sure how much remains of the sense of "otherness" from wearing home-sewn rather than store-bought clothes up to grade 6.) Right now, I am a learning entrepreneur, an aspiring knowmad.
What I do
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Half a dozen years ago, I would have said, I teach. Now, I'd just like to say I learn. Paulo Freire along with other educators and my own practitioner experiences have led me to shift from an idea of teaching that is often more associated with telling and transmitting information. I learn when I teach by drawing on what others know and even don't know, by learning from the nature of their questions. My knowledge is always incomplete and I must always be receptive and consider others' ideas. Knowledge is connected and I am a knowledge node in a vast network, a connector of learning.
Why I do it
I like to think that most of the years of my teaching career were focused on improving the current and future life opportunities of my students. Lately, the care for the students became such that it was clear that system and institutional demands (enforced by people) were too often at odds with the actual needs of the students. I learn-teach with students to better their lives.
How I do it
Reading the emotions of others through facial expression and body posture is highly unconscious. How do I know when someone needs to be pushed and challenged or quietly held in silence? I've learned to acknowledge my inferences, which lead back to underlying assumptions. For example, a student walks into class late, and I infer that the lateness is due to disrespect or laziness or apathy. I'm assuming the importance of my class, the students' grade and credit, the compliance to institutional expectations. What do I read in their face and body? What are the reasons? Developing an understanding requires making myself vulnerable, which will help to build trust. Vulnerability requires measured judgment and the adoption of a servant attitude. By keeping focused on my why, I acknowledge that judgment is best equitable, even if not equal, for each student.
Proof
If the purpose of school is for the best outcomes of students, here's what they have to say about my approach to teaching and learning.
In response to my question of how I am different as a teacher: “There is no teacher up here and student down here. For you, they are equal.”
"Fuck off." This was written in my yearbook when I quit. Why? Had to brain-check my assumptions and inferences. The student was upset that I was leaving and felt a sense of rejection. I accept the raw honesty and freedom to express. Got a hug and an invite to a performance this year.
"Thanks for being more than a teacher."
"You impacted me and taught me beyond what I thought I would learn in school."
"You made me look at and view the world differently."
"Thank you for helping me understand my Aboriginal background."
"You have helped me find myself and helped me on my hatred for school."
"Hard to write what you mean to me and many other students. You always encouraged me to reach my potential and set a great example to do so."
"You have changed my perspective on learning."
What I have learned, I am willing to share, and I do it for the purpose of learning more and for making each of us better as we learn together.
Credit: Catalyst for the impetus and structure of this post.
Who am I
It's pretty hard to stand outside myself and see what others see, knowing even they aren't seeing the same "me." After attending my aunt's 75 birthday yesterday, I was reminded how different she is from my mother, her sister, and it made me reflect on how my home environment shaped me. Neither of my parents, now 83, went beyond grade school, yet when my oldest siblings headed off to university, my parents went and got their GED. Not having a lot of money, they were resourceful, growing food for freezing and canning and catching sucker fish from ditches (also canned). My dad was an auto mechanic and wasn't afraid to fix or build anything for the house. From this, I've internalized the belief that if something needs to get done, you learn how to it. (Still not sure how much remains of the sense of "otherness" from wearing home-sewn rather than store-bought clothes up to grade 6.) Right now, I am a learning entrepreneur, an aspiring knowmad.
What I do
Half a dozen years ago, I would have said, I teach. Now, I'd just like to say I learn. Paulo Freire along with other educators and my own practitioner experiences have led me to shift from an idea of teaching that is often more associated with telling and transmitting information. I learn when I teach by drawing on what others know and even don't know, by learning from the nature of their questions. My knowledge is always incomplete and I must always be receptive and consider others' ideas. Knowledge is connected and I am a knowledge node in a vast network, a connector of learning.Why I do it
I like to think that most of the years of my teaching career were focused on improving the current and future life opportunities of my students. Lately, the care for the students became such that it was clear that system and institutional demands (enforced by people) were too often at odds with the actual needs of the students. I learn-teach with students to better their lives.
How I do it
Reading the emotions of others through facial expression and body posture is highly unconscious. How do I know when someone needs to be pushed and challenged or quietly held in silence? I've learned to acknowledge my inferences, which lead back to underlying assumptions. For example, a student walks into class late, and I infer that the lateness is due to disrespect or laziness or apathy. I'm assuming the importance of my class, the students' grade and credit, the compliance to institutional expectations. What do I read in their face and body? What are the reasons? Developing an understanding requires making myself vulnerable, which will help to build trust. Vulnerability requires measured judgment and the adoption of a servant attitude. By keeping focused on my why, I acknowledge that judgment is best equitable, even if not equal, for each student.
Proof
If the purpose of school is for the best outcomes of students, here's what they have to say about my approach to teaching and learning.
In response to my question of how I am different as a teacher: “There is no teacher up here and student down here. For you, they are equal.”
"Fuck off." This was written in my yearbook when I quit. Why? Had to brain-check my assumptions and inferences. The student was upset that I was leaving and felt a sense of rejection. I accept the raw honesty and freedom to express. Got a hug and an invite to a performance this year.
"Thanks for being more than a teacher."
"You impacted me and taught me beyond what I thought I would learn in school."
"You made me look at and view the world differently."
"Thank you for helping me understand my Aboriginal background."
"You have helped me find myself and helped me on my hatred for school."
"Hard to write what you mean to me and many other students. You always encouraged me to reach my potential and set a great example to do so."
"You have changed my perspective on learning."
What I have learned, I am willing to share, and I do it for the purpose of learning more and for making each of us better as we learn together.
Credit: Catalyst for the impetus and structure of this post.