Restoring Meaning to Teaching - Part 2 of 2

You would think in a school full of teachers, you would have ample opportunity to share your thoughts with others. But days can go by without meaningful conversation with your colleagues. It's especially difficult if, like Vickie, your classroom is isolated in the first place. I was not assigned to a mentor teacher. I was basically on my own. Physically I was even in a building outside of the building. So, I was pretty well segregated other than some people who worked physically across the hall. It was an outdoor walkway separated. I was in a classroom on my own, and so that was kind of frustrating. But, teachers can feel isolated regardless of their classroom's placement. The sense of being alone makes it hard to share the concerns about your students with others. In the first two to three years that I taught, it was the situation where I was doing this all by myself, and in the back of my mind, I was questioning, "Am I doing enough? Am I doing the right things?" "Am I doing what's appropriate to the grade level? Am I overextending? Am I teaching below these kids?" The feeling of isolation by not planning with other teachers has added years to me--many grey hairs-- many sleepless nights, because I wasn't able to bounce off other people--to look at what they were doing. The old cliché about two heads are better than one is even more appropriate when you talk through your foreheads, because you are looking at the differences of opinions and ideas and how you bring those together. Building a community of colleagues breaks down that sense of isolation. By sharing experiences, you can build relationships that encourage you and remind you that you are not alone. None of that is going to happen if collegial relations within a school are as fragmented and broken as student-teacher relationships sometimes are. When you have fragmented and broken relationships, you don't have a learning situation in the classroom. And when you have fragmented and broken relationships, you don't have the type of collegial community that can become a form of power for change--for positive change. You can build collegial relations when you find time to get together to listen to each other and talk about issues that affect your classroom and school. Vickie connected with fellow teachers in a study group where she became an integral part of the group, in spite of her isolated classroom. What we've been able to do is share ideas, share philosophies of education, I don't necessarily always agree with what people say, but that's OK. I have my thoughts; they have their thoughts, but it has sometimes made me reflect in a different area that I had not thought of before. Judy found encouragement to work with her troubled fourth grader when she discussed the situation with colleagues in her study group. Dialoguing has opened up this thing that says I'm not alone in this boat, because there are other people doing the same thing. Because of my conversations with other professionals, I think I have the patience that's going to say, "I'm going to make this. I think that I can be of benefit to this child, because of a lot of the help that I've gotten from others." Dialoguing with colleagues benefits your students as you take valuable insight back to your classroom. It can happen in a study group or in one-on-one conversations. However you connect with your colleagues, collegial relations install confidence in yourself as a teacher, and restore the meaning to teaching. In community, we can encourage each other, which I think is a word, encourage, that means literally 'to take heart.' Another strategy to restore meaning to teaching is finding time to reflect and be thoughtful about your teaching. I don't know how good work of any sort in any field gets done without being deeply reflective about who is doing the work. What are those inner qualities that are driving the methods, the techniques, the skills. Who is the self who is holding this information? Reflection allows teachers to examine the self that ultimately defines them at teachers. Reflection helps you address the internal struggles that affect your teaching philosophies and practices. In my first three years of teaching, I never felt like I really got a handle on my teaching. Some things went well; some things didn't, but I just kept knowing that there was something missing. But, I couldn't put my finger on it. Something was bothering Vickie about her teaching, but she wasn't sure what it was. By spending time in reflection, she was able to look at herself honestly and tackle her concerns in a direct manner. Once she had a clear picture, she could choose her direction. I think more than anything else, it's made me reflect on "What am I doing?" not just "I'm here to teach curriculum," but reflect on "What is happening? Where are we going? How are we progressing?" "How can I improve?" These things didn't. "Well, OK. What can I do to make these better?" And, if I am doing something good, "What can I still do to make it even better, to make it more powerful for the children?" Karen found that when she took time to reflect on her teaching, she discovered a new view of herself fro the eyes of her students. What I found has been the most critical piece for me is that I've become very self-conscious as the teacher. And I think that is something we're not taught to value as teachers-- to be self-conscious, and by self-conscious I mean I started to see the children watching me, and listen, and I started to notice the effects of even a "look" and the effect that would have on an entire class of children, and so I really now would like people to celebrate the sense of being self-conscious--that it's not something to be afraid of. To develop a sense of self-consciousness and find time for reflection, some teachers write in personal journals, others record their thoughts on tape or dialogue with colleagues. The method is not critical; all that's important is time. Time for yourself, to examine your profession, and discover how you can restore meaning to teaching and help your students learn. Restoring meaning to teaching doesn't happen overnight. The three strategies: Shifting the focus from teaching to learning, talking with colleagues, and reflecting on the practice of teaching are dependent on one another. Used together, building on each other, they can restore the meaning and joy to teaching. We are here for the children. When I hear them being excited, we can't wait to lead them back to the classroom. That's what it's all about.