We teach who we are

I am glad I dragged myself out of bed early this morning to attend the lecture at 8:00am. Since I told Clare that I would be there, I told myself not to create excuses. And so there I was at the lecture theatre with the other tutors and some fifty-odd students.

This morning, the lecture was presented by a guest lecturer, Dr. William De Jean. And it was one heck of a lecture! If every lecture was as interactive and hyped up as his was, I would attend every single one of them!

The lecture reminded me of some of the lectures that were conducted last year for the same unit. The first questions he asked us to answer were why we were going into teaching and our intentions for doing so. My reply was a slightly selfish one. I am going into teaching (I am teaching) because these is a special feeling of achievement and pride when someone I have taught comes back to say ‘thank you’. I find that such appreciation actually motivates me to be better. So, indirectly, teaching helps me better myself because like what Dr. De Jean kept emphasising throughout his lecture, we teach who we are.

He asked us to read aloud the following questions, which he took out of The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life by Parker J. Palmer, an author, educator, and activist who focuses on issues in education, community, leadership, spirituality and social change:

The question we most commonly as is the “what” question – what subjects shall we teach?

When the conversation goes a bit deeper, we ask the “how” question – what methods and techniques are required to teach well?

Occasionally, when it goes deeper still, we ask the “why” question – for what purpose and to what ends do we teach?

But seldom, if ever, do we ask the “who” question – who is the self that teaches?

He related that back to how we are educated (as opposed to trained) as teachers. We almost always justify our teaching with what is in the best interest of the children. It always is for the children. We almost always not talk about ourselves. What about us? We teach who we are so how can we not place some amount of significance on ourselves?

I liked how he metaphorically referred to our teaching as roadmaps. We have all these directions to follow. We use compasses because we are going places we do not even know. How do we know where we are going with our teaching? Do we know what the creative superminds we are teaching today will create for tomorrow? I think we can only assume that we are laying a foundation for the younger generation. What kind of a foundation will depend on who we are.

Like it or not, our identity is made up not only of who we think we are but also who we think we are not. Dr. De Jean likened it to a beach ball that is being held forcefully underwater. Yes, the beach ball is our shadow and what we suppress will always surface when we are unable to take the pressure any longer. So, what do we truly believe about difference? Do we really treat everyone equally? Do we really know what it feels like to be wearing glasses or to walk with a plastered foot?

What do we truly believe about success? If people work hard, will they really succeed? Does that mean that people who do not succeed are people who are not trying?

What do we truly believe about intelligence? Who do we believe is “smart” and who do we think is not? Who do we believe seems “motivated and who is not? Who do we believe should and should not go to university?

What do we believe about language? What do we laugh at? Why do we say “Hey, guys” when half the crowd is made up of females?

What do we truly believe about gender? How do we believe boys should act? How do we believe girls should act? We get concerned when they do not act the way we think they should.

What do we truly believe or feel when we hear an accent? What are our emotional responses? How is it different if it is French, American, Aboriginal or Spanish? Why do we think that when someone speaks English in a French or Scottish accent sounds beautiful or sexy while a person who speaks English in an Asian accent needs to attend an English speaking course?

How often do we think about our race, gender, sexual orientation, “accent”, nationality, class and language?

How well do we know our selves? Our light, brilliance, gifts, talents, compassion, intuition and healthy boundaries. Our fears, shadows, judgements, hidden belief systems, agendas and grief.

What do we think? What do we feel? To me, I think that there are many challenges in being the teacher we think we can be and I feel that there is a heavy sense of responsibility that comes with it.

Quoting Margaret J. Wheatley (commonly known as Meg Wheatley), a writer and management consultant who studies organisational behaviour with approaches including systems thinking, theories of change, chaos theory, leadership and the learning organisation (particularly its capacity to self-organise),

“The leaders we need are already here.”

If they are already here, our jobs as teachers are to make sure that we make them absolutely fantabulous leaders. Get out our compasses (GPSes?)!

*Unless otherwise hyperlinked, much detail included here were from the lecture slides provided this morning.

Inclusive Education

Throughout my studies and teaching here at uni, the issue of inclusive education is being brought to light more and more. We talk about providing inclusive facilities more here compared to back home and I sometimes wonder if it is a contextual matter, this matter of inclusivity. Regardless, with increased public awareness towards human rights and respect, it is making the headlines back home more in recent years.

Being inclusive is not just spraying the sign on the ground for disabled parking it is also about implementing it. What is the point of having it when it is not accessed by those who need to but selfishly want to? It is not about building a ramp on the outside of the building so that people using wheelchairs, delivery companies or mothers with prams could enter the building. What is the use of that if when that is as far as the ramp goes? Has anyone realised that we are great at setting inclusive systems up but are totally hopeless when it comes to following it all up to the end.

And it has to be advocated and supported by people without a disability, as well. I remember my holiday in New Zealand with a dear classmate. If possible, she would only buy coffee from a cafe that blends Fair Trade Coffee and would rather pay that little bit more to spend a night at a backpackers’ accommodation that has disability access. Small acts but if everyone had her mentality, imagine the ripple effect.

In education, it is vital to be inclusive. Yet, it is the most ignored part of our teaching. Admit it - it is extremely difficult to practice inclusivity. We are all, every single one of us, guilty of behaving discriminatorily at one point or another of our teaching career.

The ripple effect applies to inclusive education, as well. Take the example of a child who does not seem to enjoy reading. The words do not make sense and the time taken to put the words together is long, compared to peers. If we do not recognise that as a problem and try to come up with ways to support his reading in a different manner, it will persist to be a problem. In fact, it will become a bigger problem. The child will continue to lose interest in reading and in school the teachers may mistake his reading disability as laziness. The root of the problem was not tackled, which opens the doors to other behavioural problems. Why? Simple because to the child, lessons are not interesting anymore!

For all you know, it could have been a learning disability, such as dyslexia. Or it may have been ADHD, or some other contextual reasons, such as lack of good reading role models in the home environment. If you realise, all the above are issues that can become ‘non-issues’ when pointed out and intervened early.

A guest lecturer pointed out that there are three requirements for inclusive education:

• Fair
• Reasonable
• Essential

Think of the above three when you design your lessons. Think of the work you hand out to children to bring home. Will each child have parents or older siblings present to help them with their reading? Will each child access the same assistance with the task at hand? Is this work fair, reasonable and essential to the learning of each child?

Think of attendance. Will each child have equal opportunity to be part of your lesson? Perhaps there is an illness, which deters a child from being part of the group? Is this fair, reasonable and essential to the learning of each child?

Think of practical participation. Will each child be physically able to partake in the experience? Could every child read the book you are holding up or is the font too small? Is this experience fair, reasonable and essential to the learning of each child?

Think of the cost of materials and experiences. Will each child have the ability to afford all the fancy things you say is crucial for learning? To some children, it makes more sense to save up for food than for books. Books will not fill up their stomaches. Is this fair, reasonable and essential to the learning of each child?

Think of the time constraints we place on children. Is it absolutely crucial for them to finish that painting by the end of 30 minutes? Or is it crucial for you? Is this timetable fair, reasonable and essential to the learning of each child?

We do not realise the unintentional consequences of our lessons. We live in a world where everything is fine and follows a routine. But hey, that routine is yours, not anyone else’s hence it is important to constantly remind ourselves not to impose on to others our own world view. That is when we start to take control of children’s learning too much. That is also when we stop growing as a person and begin to practice exclusivity.