Six things my students have taught me
This is part of a blog-series me and my five co-authors from “Teaching in the Fourth Industrial Revolution: standing at the precipice” have written for http://www.cmrubinworld.com/. The question was: what are six things your students have taught you? My initial thought was: “a lot.” But what exactly? It isn’t an easy question to answer, but here goes, six personal reflections.
Relationships matter
I started out as a typical subject teacher. And the love for history is still a large part of what motivates and guides me. However, you can’t be a good teacher if you can’t build a rapport with students, especially if you are a tutor and work more closely with individual students. And in a relationship there are always two people interacting, making a connection. Both students and teachers. And it was only when I realised this — that you have to show your students who you are as a person, what your values are- that we could really have a dialogue. Students hold up a mirror to you too, they make you reflect on your own being as well. I consider that a gift.
Setting high standards is crucial
Students can do so much more than we teachers give them credit for. I think it was right from the start when I started teaching that I set the bar really high in my Middle and High School classes. Introducing philosophy and concepts and knowledge not prescribed in the curriculum, and content from higher levels. Of course it wasn’t easy, but they relished the challenge. That was a very important lesson for me. We often set the bar too low at every level and with that I don’t mean more testing, but more thinking.
Children can be so resilient
I’ve seen so many of my students overcome so much adversity, be it in a challenging home situation, chronic illness or the death of a parent. And yet still they rise. Again and again. Although incomparable to what these students face, it’s demanding to be in a supportive role this way for a teacher. But it also allows for a more deeper connection with students as well. And they often make me think how I would react if I were in their shoes. The main lesson here is that you can’t come away not feeling admiration for these children. Moreover I think being a teacher allows you to see the good in humanity through our children.
The importance of having fun
What I love about teaching- and something I realised a little later on reflection — is the fun we are having in the classroom. A good classroom environment is full of positive energy. And I don’t mean this in a new age, shallow, pandering to kids kind of way. You know it when you enter a classroom of a great colleague. The atmosphere is respectful, there is a good work ethic, but students and teachers are also having genuine fun in learning new things together. When you have those kinds of lessons that is honestly one of the best feeling one can experience and is at the core of our profession.
The purpose of education
Right from the start of my teaching career I have experienced different education systems. Having taught in an international school and in South Africa during my internship I’ve taught in different environments right from the start. That makes you question methods, school organisations, curricula, etc.
But I don’t think I had yet questioned the purpose of education on a truly philosophical level until I started teaching in my current school, UniC. It is a different kind of school that leaves room for qualification, socialisation and personal growth. But in a standardised world we’ve been conditioned not to think about the deeper purpose and value of what we do anymore. It was a shock to the system.
It was especially discussions with my students at UniC on my classes and education that forced me to articulate what we were doing on a deeper level. It started a wonderful path on educational philosophy, history and sociology. And the purpose of education is a question I’m still trying to figure out and of which I think the journey is more important than the destination.
Be the change you want to be
It was one question by a student that set me off on a completely different trajectory in my life. “So what are you going to do about it?” He asked me the question whilst having a discussion with one of my students about our education, our school, why we do what we do, and why the system seemed to be built to kill off initiatives like our school. He asked me why I didn’t step up. “What are you going to do about it?”
And that question hit home. We are always telling our students to take responsibility for the world, but what are we doing about it ourselves? Usually we teachers complain, but don’t take responsibility and act, organise. That particular conversation was life-changing for me. It literally shook me out of my complacency.
And as a result I’ve learned so much, met so many inspirational people, found so many organisations that empower teachers and students. It set me on a course to write several books, and influence national and international educational discourse. The lesson he taught me? Be the change you want to be.
Students change our lives, just as much as we change theirs.
