Then I looked at a quote from "The Well-Balanced Teacher" that said:
"It seems to me that the best teachers are the ones who are quietly rebellious"
This quote resonated with me in a unique way. We as teachers face so much outside pressure and have to deal with non-teacher entities trying to control what we do and how we teach our students or even criticizing the importance of our work. But we as teachers have a quiet power. We have the opportunity to influence and impact our students' lives for the worse or hopefully the better. When I think about that quote, it reminds me of that power we have and that we have a duty to work and try to make things better by showing our students what it means to work together or how they can be more resilient. I think it also goes to show that the best teachers listen to what they are being told to do; by principles or districts or governments; and they find the gray area where what is best for their students and their future and the procedures and programs implemented by higher ups overlap.
As a social studies teacher, and more importantly a global studies teacher, I try to instill life long lessons with my students. We talk about the importance of the world and it's issues and I try to instill in them the belief that they have the power to change what is happening. With social studies, I get a lot of the questions about the political system and what is going on in the world and I see the effect that the news and media have on my students opinions and beliefs. Part of my quiet rebellion is to create lessons that make my students question the world around them and understand that they have the power to change and improve what is happening; that they too have the power to be quietly rebellious and to instigate and spread change little by little to make the world better.
It was interesting to hear you share about the article from DT Jr. and your insight to the situation. Thank you for taking this to a more global scale. I was stuck thinking about only my position, others around me and administration vs. taking it deeper. It really opened my eyes.
ReplyDeleteWhen you discuss issues (specifically government topics) in your class do you feel like you are getting the students input and their views or mostly what they are hearing from their parents? For the students that are giving you real feed back, do you feel that they are educating themselves or strictly influenced by what they are hearing in the media? I am interested as to what they are aware of at the level you teach.
How do you approach current events in your classroom with our current political climate, do you find that it is hard to separate your own personal experiences and opinions?
ReplyDeleteAfter contemplating the concept that "the best teachers are the most rebellious ones", in what ways have you instilled a little bit of that rebellion in your students through what you choose to teach in your classroom?
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