Week 9 - Teaching as if Life Matters

Developing a Mission Statement 

Researching the how-to's of writing a mission statement, it became clear that conciseness and brevity are key.  Neither of these being my exact strong points, I created a word cloud to analyze as many of my blog posts as I could squeeze in. After filtering out a few common words, here's what stands out the most: for, have, with, students, them, they, you and are. Seems like a good foundation...here's what I have for now:

Facilitating art experiences for students in order that they can both relate to AND find their place in the world.

Cultivating Classroom Kinship – Relationship With the Human Other

 Summary – The perception one holds of themselves as teacher has a direct correlation to their relationship with students. The authors propose that all living things are interrelated, that social conditioning leads to division and perpetuation of viewing oneself as separate and disconnected.  To be very concise, the lens through which the world is viewed critically affects the way one connects and relates to the world. The ability to see this interconnectedness is the first step in transforming not only education, but also the world as a whole.

Consider the word "teacher". This is long, sorry, I started relating to the concept with a story that just kept growing…The earliest memories I have of the word teacher are associated with my aunt. (Who, incidentally, I believe I omitted from my genealogy tree.) My aunt started her career in a one room school house, and progressed to retire from the district I attended, after a career spanning over 40 years. As a child I recall that, unlike my homemaker mother, my aunt dressed in professional attire and had a huge collection of accessories. She spent summers attending classes, and had a glamorous profession in my eyes. I loved, admired, and aspired to be just like her. When I actually started school I remember having a reverence for my teachers. I was so anxious to please them that I was the model student. Through all of my k-12 education I would have to say that there was a distinct separation between "us" and "them". When I became a teacher I was proud to have reached that pinnacle. Naively, I envisioned myself in that revered position, complete with the snappy wardrobe, an abundance of costume jewelry, and many pair of cute, but sensible, shoes. Those things seemed to serve me well during those days of student teaching. However, when it came right down to it, once in the actual trenches, this business of education was a whole lot messier than it ever appeared outside looking in. I think the experience of being a parent prepared me a tremendous more about interacting with children than any of my pre-service experiences.  During the past five to seven years I have heard much talk about the role of teacher changing from that of Sage on the Stage to that of Guide on the Side. The new definition makes sense of me, I don't want to be the Sage, it carries too much responsibility. Instead of reverence, I'd rather be treated with the type of respect you afford your parents… or at least something along those lines. I'd rather be seen as the person who introduces new ideas for consideration, and provides a safe place for the exploration of those ideas. I enjoy being a nurturer. I love the role of being a VTS facilitator, and completely embrace the idea that I can take in the observations of my students and not have to be the all-wise, all knowing "teacher". I learn both from and with my students.

Truth-speak - I believe that truth speaking has evolved as a natural manifestation of my experience in this program. That's not to say that I have completely adopted the practice, there are many times when I just react to the situation, whatever the case may be. I really dislike when students are talking when I am demonstrating a technique, or giving the parameters for a project. Lately I have found myself looking directly at the offending student and telling them that it frustrates me when they talk while I am talking because it makes me feel disrespected, and I worry they won't have time to do their studio work. When I have a student who is having a bad day I usually pull them outside the classroom door and ask them what's going on. Sometimes it's lack of sleep, or worrying about a parent (remember, these are military dependents), frequently, it's about something that happened in the hallway, or in their classroom. For the 'trouble-makers' or those kids from hell, as the author describes, sometimes they are surprised and oftentimes sullen. I just talk to them like I would my own kids, "What's going on, I'm concerned?" They are completely honest and more often than not, one, the other, or both of us end up in tears. I'm pretty sure this is truthspeak!

How has my consciousness about teaching expanded since the start of this course? How does it relate to my goals? Teaching nearly 450 students on a three-day rotation, and having an active role in several different building committees, it is easy to get wrapped up in the process of just getting through the day. Easy to lose sight of the real reason you are there. There were portions of this weeks reading that I had to read repeatedly, and some of it is still a bit “out there” to me. However, when I read, “ What if we viewed each young person as whole, complete, brilliant, - each a manifestation of the love and life force that animates existence?” (p 113) It reminded me that every student is someone’s baby, something I always try to keep in the back of my mind. I think this course has caused me to value that one-on-one relationship with students. I think it makes my goals for changing the district art curriculum from E & P based to one of meaningful making even more important than before. This newly deepened relationship makes me want the best for them even more than before! 

Anything else - Like I mentioned, I found some of this book to be a little "out there", however, I'm pretty open minded. I read this chapter on a layover in major airport. I love the sport of people watching and mentally practiced being at one with the individuals I encountered walking to my gate. I was the man with the handle-bar mustache, the father with the young infant, the obese woman in the wheelchair...I set aside the 'otherness', as best I could. It was a little staggering, and certainly a different way of looking at the world. This book makes want to know more about the power of social conditioning.