I mentioned in an earlier blog that Parker J. Palmer has noted that when we teach, we are always teaching three things, whether we realize it or not. We teach a subject. We teach other human beings. And, maybe the most surprising of the three: we teach our own lives. I want to talk about the first two in this blog. Number three deserves a post all of its own.
No one argues with the first one. None of us went through degree programs, accrued student loan debt, went through student teaching, probationary periods and countless observations without being clear that we teach a subject. For many reading this, that “subject” is actually a language--Latin, for many of us, or other languages. Our essential questions are on the board. Our syllabus is posted in all the right places on the school system platform, and it is filled with the district and state mandated learning objectives. While this is all necessary and an absolute requirement for teaching and learning, it is also the absolute minimum of what it means to teach--that is--teaching a subject, if the other two things are not well in place. If our teaching is suffering, it would be a bet worthy of significant denarii (Roman money) that it is not because we are not clear about the subject we teach. You might think that it goes without saying that we teach human beings. Therein lies the problem. It often goes without much of a discussion at all. We do endure many sessions of PD (professional development) on making our rooms welcoming, supporting students social, emotional and learning needs. We receive IEP’s (Individual Educational Plans) and 504 warnings and guidelines (for students with health issues that must be attended to), but aside from quiet conversations with another colleague, we almost never talk about that third period class that is beyond the pail as a group; or the student at the end of the day who always looks so depressed; or why the student in first period always comes in with class half over acting as if we should have been waiting on them to arrive before we started. And those are mild examples of the human beings we teach who can be really challenging. We teach them. Whether we like them or not. Refusing to try to find a way with EACH of the human beings who enter the room is a breach of what it means to be a teacher. This is where some of us might get a little uneasy. “I didn’t sign up for XYZ #student #situation #attitude #behavior. Effective teachers, though, do. Most of us wake up to that somewhere along the way, some earlier in their careers and some later. When some wake up to this reality, they leave teaching, and that can be honorable. They really did not sign up for this kind of work with human beings, and it’s best if they move on to their life’s journey and find what they are signing up for. Some wake up to this and realize in a way that can be rather jolting, that teaching human beings is really the thing that matters, and their subject (language) is just a vehicle. I have a PhD in Latin. Earning that degree was one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done. It’s not nearly as important as how I work with other human beings. I received monetary awards and public notice for the PhD. What I receive from learning how to work well with other human beings, especially all those I did not sign up for, is the sense at the end of the day, or the end of a week, or the end of a school year or the end of a career, and hopefully, one day, at the end of this life, that there are people out there doing well in some part because we did meaningful work together. That matters, far more, than Latin, but without Latin, I’d have no way into this work.
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In a sense, every post or podcast or publication or conversation that we hold here or through Scroll and Grove is asking this question. It could be about what we are doing here in this blog. It could be about what we as teachers and learners are doing here in our classrooms with our students in all their wonderful variety. It could be what we are doing here in our personal lives. Parker J. Palmer says that when we teach, we always teach three things, whether we know it or not. We teach a subject. We teach human beings. And, we teach our lives. So, of those arenas, we will constantly be asking: what are we doing here. Scroll and Grove as a joint effort between daughter and father. He retired a few months ago after 32 years of teaching, mostly Latin, mostly high school but a few other things and in different places and levels along the way. She is in the middle of her career as a teacher, teaching Latin and English as a Second Language, sponsoring or co-sponsoring several student organizations. She is in the thick of teaching, and he has the benefit of the long gaze over a career. We will be offering these blogs twice every month, and sometimes a guest blogger will join us. We will be here reflecting on three things: 1) Latin as language and as literature, looking at meaningful connections between the ancient and modern world.; 2) the art and science of human beings teaching human beings; and 3) the search for truth and meaning through practical and transformative experiences. While we might at times try to tease one of these out from the others, the reality is that they all are always weaving in and through each other. We hope that you will join us in the questions and the search for meaning as we do this work and answer this call to teach. Written by Bob Patrick
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AuthorUnless otherwise noted, all blogs are written by Bob and Miriam. You can learn about them on the about page! ArchivesCategories
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