Conversations as volleys, addressed to teachers
To be effective listening is necessary, acceptance encouraged, and care for one another essential.
You do not dictate. You are curious about what they have to say. You have them share their thinking. And certainly you don’t insist that they regurgitate what you tell them. That would be indoctrination.
You offer them agency, to think, ponder, speak up, ask questions, offer ideas, state opinions. Attention to their phones has weakened their ability to be together face to face. And they may not have had enough sleep. You become their anchor. You offer a safe harbor. You provide openings for them to engage with you, with their classmates. You listen more than you talk. You don’t judge. You connect with their parents. What a wonderful responsibility to be a teacher when you think about it.
Yet pressures from the pandemic and now from parents, politicians, and social media has you feeling challenged. It is hard enough to do the job you signed up for. You may be wondering why you put up with it all––and for little respect and being underpaid. You have to answer those questions for yourself.
And the horrors of the gun lurk. No matter how ‘hardened’ your school is, that terror lies in waiting. If you choose to quit––and if your colleagues did the same––schools would close. Children would stay home. Society would be transformed. The gun folk would have won. When you chose to be a teacher, you committed to your mission. You suppressed your fears and plunged ahead. You are there for the children, you say, you are there for the children.
Your task is to build a better future, to make your classroom a sanctuary, educating children to become the best they can be. My task is to bring knowledge from the past to support you to create that better future.
