Edustange

John Spencer, Musings from a Not-So-Master Teacher

I work hard as a teacher and I believe in the notion that “there are no shortcuts.” Yet, I have also found that often “less is more.” Trite, perhaps, but true nonetheless. I call it the Impact Paradox. It’s the idea that I have more of an impact as a teacher when I am trying less hard at having an impact. For example, when I focus on behaviors, kids misbehave. But when I focus less on behavior and instead of quality teaching, the behaviors improve. When I try really hard to impact my students’ lives, I drive them away. Yet, when I simply show compassion, I end up making a difference.

It does not take many years at some great institutional purpose to begin to appreciate the  Catch 22 principle and the paradoxes John Spencer lists in his latest blog entry. For years I have lived mindful of my own: Every approach or strategy works for a while and then it doesn’t. What a thoughtful list Spencer has presented. I have to find a way to keep connected to it. Authenticity, humility, transparency, flexibility, and empowerment are key words he uses to describe the most rewarding and successful approaches to teaching. I think we struggle with the empowerment the most because we are pressured by accountability to many different stakeholders in education. This might be the greatest contradiction we must resolve; how do we share control of the learning process while maintaining ownership for the student learning outcomes?