The only constant in life is change!
“The only constant in life is change!” (crossroadsantigua, 2018, para 1)
To me the given sentence means constantly reinventing
my relationship with myself, my subject, education and the community that I
work in, as I face the challenges. It
means being open to step out of my “comfort zone” (Cambridge, n.d.) to
accommodate new challenges which leads to new learnings and growth in skills
and values.
I am writing the reflective piece using 4 narratives
that I grew in, during my years as a teacher.
My
self
“People
don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it. If you talk about what you
believe, you will attract those who believe what you believe” (Sinek,
2009, 10:49).
Dependency
My world started with taking
birth in a society that believed that women are subjugated to men. The skills
expected to learn were household chores etc. The world changed completely when
I moved as a teacher to progressive education and came in touch with the
principles of ‘autonomous choices’. It was a game changer for me.
Independent Thinking
Instead of looking for authority,
I was challenged to think for myself. With the result that I became an
independent thinker over the years. To survive in the world of progressive
educators, this is indispensable as it is rift with thought processes that push
you out of your comfort zones. My belief system changed from looking for
support to giving out my opinions freely.
My
subject
Maths for exams
In the beginning maths was just a subject to be taught
for the exam skills. However, when I saw the devastating effect it on the
students who would chase me across school for half a mark, I changed my
approach to focusing on the child and not the subject. I encouraged them to
think for themselves and focus on their best skills. For example, I asked a
girl, who was obsessed about maths, to focus on her strengths which were
language and drama. As she did that, she went on to become the school editor
and head girl!
Maths for applications
The next challenge was the stuffy system I was in, the
Indian national curriculum. I felt that I had done as much as I could do within
it and then moved to progressive education, where I felt the breathing space to
explore education, for the pressure on academics was rational. This is where I
faced the challenge of redefining maths as a tool and studied extensively to
understand the role of maths in human evolution to understand it deeply.
My understanding of my subject enhanced.
Maths for developing thinking
My relationship with the subject enhanced further in
IB schools. Since the focus was on developing skills for a life in a global set
up, I saw my subject more as a tool through which I could develop a thinking
mind.
Educator
Syllabus
In the initial years, the purpose of education was to
finish the syllabus. The concept of learning design was never there in my mind.
The tools were the textbook, board and chalk. But the question ‘what is
education?’ was always there in my mind and I searched for the answer.
Curriculum designer
The answer to this dawned on me when I reached the IB
school in my journey within school education. And that was: “The
purpose of schooling is to prepare students for life in the real world in their
communities and societies, both in the present—while students are in school—and
in the future—after they leave school behind” (Reimers, n.d., para 1).
What are these capacities that the students need? What
should I focus on in my classroom if I need to go beyond maths? For, “To
succeed in this new global age, our students will need capacities that include
but go beyond reading, mathematics and science”, (Mansilla, & Jackson,
2013, pp.2).
This is where I learnt, faced with the challenge of IB
curriculum, the role of teacher as a designer weaving experiences for students
that enhance the best of maths ability, learning skills and attitudes for life.
I saw that these go hand in hand, that if a student is unable to learn alone, a
collaboration set up works wonders. A lot of my experiences are on my blog,
“humanemaths”, (Kochar, 2009)
Community
We have four “…basic
psychological needs—for emotional and physical safety; for close, supportive
relationships—a sense of “connectedness” (Resnick et al., 1997) or
“belongingness” (Baumeister & Leary, 1995); for autonomy, or a say in what
happens to us; and for a sense of competence—a belief that we are capable
people and able to learn”, (Schaps, n.d.).
Initially as a teacher, I was alone. I
was different. I asked questions and I played cricket with my classes to get
them to bond with each other. I had a sense of purpose in a community that
chiefly consisted of teachers who were there without any passion. I did not
value them.
As I moved to progressive education,
I encountered a community that believed in building relationships and my
Achilles heel was discovered! I watched, observed and tried to imbibe what I
could best.
But in the community of an IB
boarding school is where I finally realised the role of community. Our maths
HOD asked us, middle school maths teachers, to figure out a way to work with
each other. She also tied us up nicely by dividing work in such a way that each
affected the others. For example, each of us was responsible for test papers of
a particular class.
This is where after a year of wars,
that we slowly learnt to work with each other. We discovered our weaknesses and
others’ strengths. This is where I discovered synergistic relationships, that
is, “…when two people create a greater contribution together than they would
independently. Synergistic relationships are based on co-creating outcomes”,
(Ferrick, 2017).
This was by far the most beautiful
year of my working life!
Conclusion
Although I have given 4 narratives, they are
intertwined for one of the four streams could not have developed without the
other. As I discovered my independence, I learnt to give it to the students
too. With that came the need to learn to design curriculum better and I learnt
to integrate life skills. As I needed to learn more of how to do it, I reached
out at the community and discovered synergetic relationships. The four streams,
like DNA, run intertwined and each affects the other.
The challenge could come from any stream, but it went
finally back to my quest to find out ‘myself’. Who am I? and it finally ended
with understanding that I am an evolving personality who would, with each
experience, grow more towards an integrated whole in sync with the community
that I am a part of.
This is the gift of teaching.
References:
1.
Cambridge.
(n.d.). COMFORT ZONE. Retrieved from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/comfort-zone
2.
crossroadsantigua.
(2018, April 2). "The only constant in life is change"-Heraclitus -
Executive Drug Rehab: Private Drug Rehab. Retrieved from https://crossroadsantigua.org/the-only-constant-in-life-is-change-heraclitus/
3.
Ferrick,
M. (2017, June 5). Synergistic Relationships are Superior. Retrieved from
https://marshaferrickcoaching.com/synergistic-relationships-are-superior/
4.
Kochar, M. (2009).
reviewing area and % using the newspaper. Retrieved from https://humanemaths.blogspot.com/2009/01/reviewing-area-and-using-newspaper.html
5.
Mansilla, V. B., &
Jackson, A. (2013). Educating for Global Competence: Learning Redefined for an
Interconnected World. In H. Jacobs (Ed.), Mastering Global Literacy
(5-27). New York: Solution Tree. Retrieved from http://pz.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/Educating%20for%20Global%20Competence%20Short%20HHJ.pdf
6.
Reimers,
F. (n.d.). Leading for Global Competency. Retrieved from
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept09/vol67/num01/Leading-for-Global-Competency.aspx
7.
Schaps,
E. (n.d.). Creating a School Community. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar03/vol60/num06/Creating-a-School-Community.aspx
8.
Sinek, S. (2009). Start
with why: How great leaders inspire everyone to take action. New York, N.Y.:
Portfolio. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action/transcript?language=en
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