Comments on: It’s about the journey, not the destination

By: husnain

husnain — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 17:02:25 +0000

"They have great topics like this one on www.energytalkradio.com and donate 30% to charity! Check them out."

By: CCK08: Week 9 Stacks « Clyde Street

CCK08: Week 9 Stacks « Clyde Street — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 08:40:03 +0000

[...] then Mike’s post appeared… I have an enormous admiration for Mike’s knowledge and skill. I [...]

By: Roz

Roz — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:07:38 +0000

Almost everyone I know has a similar experience in their past (mine was sport!!). However I wonder whether they are as instructive for educators as we believe.

What you have described is extreme, is highly dysfunctional. It often comes from a generation who was brought up to believe in a certain power dynamic in student-teacher relationships. These days, were a teacher to behave in this manner, they would probably know that they were doing something wrong. Or find that the people around them wouldn’t tolerate it. They would find it reasonably obvious.

What is more difficult for educators is the grey areas in the middle. Where you have a reasonable learning plan and an obligation to your school/university/organisation to get through a particular curriculum. Yet also an obligation to students to allow them to find their own rich learning no matter what it is. How much power do you exercise to keep things on track? How much do you encourage people to take their own paths? How much power do you as an educator really have in the face of your obligations to a school/university/organisation/society?

By: Linda Burns

Linda Burns — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 14:37:15 +0000

I almost the same experience as you. I started saxophone in the 4th grade. I was pretty good, and as in a previous post, I was a girl in the 60’s playing sax and being told girls didn’t do that. My band instructor was an alcoholic and was ruining everyone’s experience in band and music theory. I still thing about getting another sax and just playing it for me, now almost 40 years later. It was a big part of my life growing up, and should still be a big part of my life.

By: Frances Bell

Frances Bell — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 08:38:56 +0000

Thanks for the post and the song to listen to while we read it – I remember my brother singing it when I was a child.
I was struck by what you said here “It became clear that the “club” was her instrument to be played; we were not individuals with interests or hopes in our own right.”
Having been a student and a teacher in secondary, tertiary and higher education, it has always struck me that the ‘one to many’ situation of teachers in classrooms does leave the risk that the teacher’s ego can drift into centre stage. Kindness and openness are an antidote to education becoming more about the teacher’s self-fulfilment than the students’ self-development.

By: Mike Bogle

Mike Bogle — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:11:54 +0000

I think it’s absolutely critical that educators realise how much of an influence they carry over students – particularly younger ones – and that what you don’t say is as critical as what you do say – not to mention the way you say it.

If we want students to take responsibility for their own learning journeys later in life they must be allowed the time to explore their ideas during their formative years and realise what learning means to them. Free thinking learners can’t grow effectively in an authoritarian environment.

@Lisa – To me educators have a duty of care to protect the self-images and self-esteem of their students and create the most nurturing environment possible. In my opinion that instructor has no business teaching.

I’m absolutely shocking at art. I can doodle and draw stick figures, but not much more than that. Even with music I don’t feel particularly creative; more that I’m building on the work of others than coming up with something original.

Then again, I’ve also realised that you don’t need to be good at something to have fun doing it

@Lani – I think educators really do hold a lot of sway in how students perceive themselves and their abilities. I think it’s critical that the notion of the educator being one who imparts knowledge unto a receiver be abandoned and the larger picture seen.

People are complex creatures with unique circumstances that warrant far more consideration than that – e.g. intellectual, physical, psychological, spiritual and emotional elements all make up the whole person (and many other factors) – students are no exception. Treating learning as though it’s just about the transmission and retention of knowledge is just insufficient.

By: Lani

Lani — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 23:41:10 +0000

Thank you so much for sharing this, Mike.

Every educator– prospective educator should know this story!

By: Lisa M Lane

Lisa M Lane — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 22:52:25 +0000

Absolutely wonderful. Thank you so much not only for the post, but for the video. You sound great.

I had an art teacher in high school who told me girls can’t do art. He drew a picture of a brain, then a picture of a small girl brain to explain why. I did his assignments, was absolutely miserable, and never did art again after that. He not only prevented me from learning, he showed me that there are some situations where no matter what you do, the person in charge will make sure it doesn’t work.

Unlike you, I do not have any innate talent in art, though I did finally find an artistic outlet as a theatrical lighting designer. But even to this day, I cringe at putting pencil to paper to draw anything.