uncovering the real mission statement behind education

No one goes into teaching because they’re excited to teach to the test.

They start because they love kids

They’ve been told that they’re gifted at teaching

They had a great teacher that changed their life and they want to do the same

Teachers go into teaching to touch lives, they are then pushed, pulled, and forced into teaching to the test

I teach art.. an untested subject

This is both good and bad

Good because I have more freedom in what and how I teach. Bad because the arts are given less time, attention, and in some schools disappear.

Over my years of teaching and observing, my focus of what and why i teach has changed

 I care about teaching empathy… and empathy… and then a little more empathy

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Nothing else matters

Good art comes from being empathic, seeing a problem, developing a solution

Great art happens when the artists provides value,  for themselves, and for those around them

Imagination and empathy. they don’t happen without each other

If you can’t imagine what someone else’s life is like you can’t empathize…. if you can’t empathize… you can’t imagine… if you can’t imagine you can’t create art that adds value to other’s lives.

So now we daydream… a lot ( i’ll share my daydreaming lesson later, you’ll be surprised at the students response)

Doodeling is encouraged

We play… and experiment… there is freedom… chaos…

We free write.. create art that attempts to understand the perspective of others… we talk

We pretend… discuss how things make us feel, and what those feelings look like… this is not easy, in fact last week students told me this was the hardest thing that they’d ever done.

I’m not perfect, I don’t have all of the answers, but I know that being able to solve a complex math problem without the ability to be kind doesn’t matter. I know the best stories come from being able to connect. I know that the base of everything is empathy, kindness, love, compassion. So we’re starting at the base and going from there.

Leave a comment sharing what you want the mission statement of your child’s school to be.

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Action item for parents: click to download uncovering the real mission statement

Uncovering the real mission statement

IGNORE THE MISSION STATEMENT

Want to get down to the heart of what a school is about, ignore the mission statement and have conversations, ask questions. Ask for concrete examples of how the mission statement is put into action.

Here’s my teaching philosophy

 Learning to be empathic through exploration, discovery, and creativity.

You don’t need to ask for a copy of every teacher’s philosophy, that’s going to be a waste of your time, and it’s likely that you aren’t going to get it. But go ahead and ask for a few. The teachers that really know why they’re teaching ( those are the ones that you want teaching your kid) are going to be able to tell you pretty quickly. The rest will use a  lot of educational terms that you don’t understand. Please don’t get me wrong here, there are a lot of great teachers out there, that are fighting a hard battle.

There is not a right or wrong philosophy, but a teacher that doesn’t know why they’re teaching, isn’t going to be very effective.

 

Ask:

Why do you teach?

What is the purpose of what you teach?

What is the main goal of the school, and what things do you have in place to make that happen?

 

3 Comments

  1. Ashley
    March 3, 2014

    i teach because i want to inspire kids to a lifetime of physical activity so they can experience all the joy and confidence that comes with having a healthy mind and body

  2. achat 3ds
    March 16, 2014

    Hi, јսst wanted to tll you, I loved this article.
    It was inspiring. Keep on posting!

  3. Kim Zimmerman
    March 24, 2014

    As a parent reading these words (and I quote)

    “but i know that being able to solve a complex math problem without the ability to be kind doesn’t matter. i know the best stories come from being able to connect. i know that the base of everything is empathy, kindness, love, compassion”

    make me shake my head furiously in an up and down motion!! I couldn’t agree more!

    Nice post!!

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