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4 thoughts on “Ego”
Unlearning will come maybe after reading 50,000 comments on how to teach/facilitate better!
What an irony – our goal is to simply communicate – but we are all clogged up with educational accountability – demanding us to create reams of documentation – proving that we’re in control of our program. Curricula, report cards, essential questions, scope & sequence, evidence for evaluation, rubrics…
The educational system really is an obstacle to all this crucial unlearning. We must be conscious of this so that we can play the game to protect our livelihoods, but be authentic with our students.
…the educational system really is an obstacle to all this crucial unlearning….
The positive side to that is that I know many top flight educators who know that fact so well but never let it keep them from their focus on the kids. It’s like, “Nothing is going to stop me from taking these kids where they are right now, warts and all or captain of the football team or recluse with a hoody or whatever, and loving on them, no matter how badly I feel that day, and sending the message in every minute I have with them that nothing can stop them, that they are captains of life and that life is fun and they can have fun living it, even with French!” THAT is what I base all my curriculum decisions on. The people running the school are like ghosts to me, and my students are there in living color. And if anyone tries to get a kid thinking that they can’t do it, can’t learn, then I will find that person and put my face in their face and I will be the one talking. That’s what this blog is.
“T1 is deeply embedded in the collective unconscious of teachers.” Ben, it’s simple then. Let’s not be teachers. Toss out that title, that role, that symbol, that burden, that job. We are adults that care– with boundaries.
We aren’t teachers. I agree Steven. There is so much ego in our jobs. It is like a concrete slab between us and our students.