What If, It’s Not The “Program”?

From my archives but it continues to be relevant in terms of social issues and its overlay in education.

This started and continues to be a post about education, but I digress for a bit. (I write this post a day after the tragedy in Orlando, Florida.) What if our role as educators is to instil empathy, love and humanity in our students, first and foremost? What if our kids learned from our example that hate is the antithesis of acceptance, love and hope? What if this could make a difference?

As teachers leave the classroom for the summer (and after a post I read by @ChristinaNosek) I, too, reflect about our roles and interactions with our kids and the programs that often drive our teaching.

WHAT IF we get to know our students and built relationships before we started the “program”?

WHAT IF we saw their strength, not the weaknesses & struggles in our students, before we started the “program” ?

WHAT IF we remembered to make room for the joy and wonder inherent in learning and teaching, before we started the “program”?

WHAT IF we set up our classes with kids in mind and better yet, had them contribute to classroom design, before we started the “program”?

WHAT IF we valued their input, asked questions, listened to their voices and gave them choices before we started the “program”?

WHAT IF we really practiced what we believed, knowing the “program” will fall into place when the time is right for each of our students.

WHAT IF we went back to being teachers of children and not of the “program”?

Yes, WHAT IF?

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