Teaching Again... (Part 1)

         In just a few short weeks from now my wife, daughter and I will be moving to the middle of the Pacific Ocean and I will be teaching again.  When I decided to take a year off and stay at home with my new daughter I was excited and didn’t think a year away would be a big deal.  In fact, I have missed it dearly.  I can’t wait to get to Majuro and meet my colleagues and prepare the second semester for my new students.  I’m very excited to meet my new students and begin our journey for the rest of the year.

           

            I feel so fortunate to teach.  Being able to have had the colleagues that I have had and the former students that I have had is a genuine blessing.  Being able to participate in the education of a generation is humbling.  It is clear that a good education makes a positive impact in the future of countries, communities and an individual’s life.  A good education lowers crime and poverty, increases tolerance and citizenship and ultimately creates better people.  Education isn’t just about finding a job someday down the road.  That is part of it to be sure, but if we give into the idea that education is only for practical purposes then we have lost what the purpose of education truly is.

“Above all things I hope the education of the common people will be attended to; convinced that on their good sense we may rely with the most security for the preservation of a due degree of liberty.”  -  Thomas Jefferson

            One of our greatest Founding Fathers is pointing to the fact here that our freedoms and in fact the sustainability of our country depends on creating an educated citizenry.  We may think that is over exaggerated and a bit silly, but history shows us that when a citizenry becomes manipulated and dictated to and loses the qualities of a good education anything resembling democracy ceases to function. 

“Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education.”  -  Martin Luther King Jr.

            Education is about more than reading, writing and arithmetic.  It has to be about creating better people and better citizens.  It has to be about encouraging our students to be the best versions of themselves that they can be and to find truly where their gifts and passions lie.  If education is merely about facts and data then we have given into the silly notion that everything can be quantified.  Math and science are extremely important disciplines to learn, but we can’t treat our students like they are merely a data point on a chart.  We have to care for our students and, as one of my mentors taught me, “…every moment in the classroom can be a life changing moment for one of your students.”