What’s Your Why?
My Purpose “Everything I do is to prepare students for success in life”
The Process “By using the science course of astronomy to train them on how to achieve the skills for success”
The Result “I create students that can be self-directed learners that have the capacity to reason”
Two years ago, a teacher shared a story of how she gave up on a student who just would not do his work. He was struggling to understand what was happening and since he was not hostile she just let him be. He sat in the back of the classroom and did not finish his work. He managed to graduate, so somehow he acquired the credit needed to pass. A decade after he graduated, she ran into him and he told her “I wish you could have reached me then. I needed help and not one teacher tried.” He explained that life was hard and how he was completely unprepared for life outside of school. This teacher swore she will try to reach these types of students, but could give no strategies on how to achieve that feat.
“I wish you could have reached me then. I needed help and not one teacher tried.”
I believe high school does not have to define my students’ whole life and their possibility to be successful. I believe that each student is capable of learning and applying that knowledge to help them grow. I believe that each student sets their own pace of learning and that some will exit high school with a straight golden path, whereas others will have a rocky road that can be traversed with effort. I know that my purpose is to show them how to travel that path, whatever it may be. My goal is for them to become self-sufficient learners that have the capacity to critically think and reason. How else will they overcome the obstacles on their personal road? My vehicle to achieve this goal is to use the science course of astronomy to train them on how to achieve this goal. I want my students to have the confidence to succeed in life.
Educators are often told that we need to make our students think on a high level and to acquire the soft skills that employers want for their staff. Educators can do this daily, by incorporating meaning into the lesson beyond just memorized facts. Right now, the educational system fails my goal for my students. Students need to think critically and reason through problems at their skill level but we currently over-teach and over-direct our students, hamstringing their needs or flatly ignoring them. Each day, educators give assignments that are a meager step up from rote memorization. Our projects are crafted in a manner that requires minimal critical thinking without challenge or creativity. Educators provide cookie cutter lessons that fail to meet students’ interest or needs. As a result of such educator engagement, our students provide cookie cutter responses that require no higher-level processing of information for the majority to pass their courses.
It is high time educators move our students from robots that spit out the correct code to people that are capable of problem solving and making strategies for success. This requires teachers to fully embrace the concept of coaching and relinquish our straight and narrow path for our students. Educators should be a guide for our students and ensure they stay on the proper path of learning, but not hamper their abilities. If our current education system was successful for all students what kind of student would we produce? Would anyone want to actually hire them? Education is not training someone to be an encyclopedia, but training someone to have the capacity to become self-directed learners, and that is why I teach.
It is high time educators move our students from robots that spit out the correct code to people that are capable of problem solving and making strategies for success. This requires teachers to fully embrace the concept of coaching and relinquish our straight and narrow path for our students. Educators should be a guide for our students and ensure they stay on the proper path of learning, but not hamper their abilities. If our current education system was successful for all students what kind of student would we produce? Would anyone want to actually hire them? Education is not training someone to be an encyclopedia, but training someone to have the capacity to become self-directed learners, and that is why I teach.
I know that the educators reading this article agree and feel that this process of change is a mountain they cannot climb. This is not the case, students want to feel accomplished, even the one that keeps his/her head down and refuses to answer questions for the fear of being incorrect or singled out. By incorporating concepts of blending learning that allows for students to fill gaps and station rotation so teachers can check for understanding, educators have the opportunity to produce students that can and will be successful at any obstacle that comes before them. As an educator, you have that capability and with some guidance and support we can change these students’ minds by finding the root problem for each student. Then we can assist them in opening their door to a successful future.
References:
Sinek, S. (2009, September 28). Start with why — how great leaders inspire action | Simon Sinek | tedxpugetsound. YouTube. Retrieved October 22, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZoJKF_VuA
Kotter, J. (2011, March 23). The heart of change. . Retrieved October 22, 2022, from https://youtu.be/1NKti9MyAAw
