Strange, But I Never Feel Comfortable

with my answers to what education is. I do not know why. Here is a mess of words.

Most of what I believe about learning comes from ideas expressed to me in books that are not really about learning, but about life. Perhaps it is just what I read into the books, but The Little Prince, Harold and Maude, the Lord of the Rings, The Art of Loving, Freedom to Learn, Zorba the Greek, and other works that stirred my imagination about learning and life. Herman Hesse’s Beneath the Wheel found that rebelliousness in me. Maria Montessori spoke to me of an attention to individuals rather than groups, and fostering independence (self-direction) in people. Dewey, Hahn, Postman, and others of a more academic nature gave me direction. More recently, the likes of Alfie Kohn and have really kept me active in learning about learning.

There are some pretty different genres there, but they all spoke to me of being in the world and learning, or unlearning. And I guess I see learning/unlearning as the real crux of the word “teaching.” The best learner is the best teacher, not because they posses some specific “teaching” trick or understanding, but because they role model active engagement and learning. I am pretty much into what role modeling can accomplish. From parents to best friends to historical figures, I think “teachers” live in those spaces in the minds of people, and the story they tell themselves about the behaviors of the teacher are what really makes the classroom come alive. And from all that mess comes my desire to have students experience content for themselves, not for me to tell them about it.

The ideas in many of the stories I have read are about adventure or responsibility: about refection, curiosity and passion. I have read of educational theory and I keep up pretty well with trends, but I tend to hear the ideas in my head expressed as stories. The lessons and beliefs I have begin there and transform into a “lesson” in a classroom. I know all this sounds pretty wishy-washy, but say the idea of scaffolding seems to be very self evident in light of our pursuit of progress. One thing leads to another. That can be dressed in many clothes, but within it all is all things are unique and they begin in one place and go to others.

Within all of that mess is a pretty strong belief that we are all unique and we all experience the world differently. There are common elements around us, but our interpretation of them is always unique to us. As a teacher I suppose I try to keep in mind there is a difference between knowledge and wisdom and a difference between memory and creativity. To me, a great learner is one who can blend these things together and create an idea, a painting, or a poem and share these things passionately with the community around them. I think it may be those things that make a great “teacher.”