So true Aakash! When I came to the US I was SO out of my comfort zone because I was “allowed” to question my instructors…and I thought “what! I can do that?! No way, they have to be kidding.” Now however I am more comfortable with it and appreciate it a lot. I think the “respect and don’t question your teacher” is misconstrued in some ontexts (especially India in my case for sure)…why can’t someone respect AND question someone at the same time…?!

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I agree Cassie! Reading your comment I thought about Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences in which he states that we all learn differently…so why does education need to be a box when it can be a box, a flower, a tune and drawing at the same time?!

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I completely agree…our experiences good or bad guide us what we want to create in our classrooms as teachers. We create that learning environment and hopefully propagate it too.

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Dr. Kare I just really appreciate your post!..it makes me hopeful and a little bit frustrated at the same time. Hopeful because I see the ripple effect from your teachers to you and something that will subsequently pass on from you to your students….I feel frustrated because it was only last semester when I was doing my internship at an elementary school did I realize that things really needed to change starting from the basic grade school level. Some say its trickle down effect, others say its an upwards movement. I, however, think that the educational system needs a revamp. Till we can “show” teachers that are educating our little people the importance of critical thinking and learner centered education, change is going to be really difficult. I talk to my nephews and niece about school all the time and them ranging from 8th grade to 1st grade they tell me extremely different experiences that I cannot even assess because they are so different and definitely not conducive to learner centered education…but your post brings me hope so I will try and hold on to that and hope we can all create ripples that turn into a wave (metaphor wow!).

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Isn’t that interesting how we just forgot once the regurgitation had occurred!

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Thank you for your post Karen (Dr. K(C)are) :) Your post made me think of a story called “Have you filled a bucket today” by Carol McCloud. It talks about how we carry an invisible bucket with us and the ideal would be for us to fill everyone else’s buckets and not steal from them. It is a great way to teach elementary aged children to develop capacity for respect, politeness and altruism. I got an inside view of how it is being used in one particular elementary school this past Fall and it was an amazing experience. As important as it is for us to be talking about inclusivity, it is also important for us to decide how we are going to shape the younger generations…this really does go down to the nitty gritty of how we are going to educate our little people (i.e. children). I find myself privileged that I have had the opportunity to live my life in my own bubble for a while before I realized how harsh this world can be…I am saddened that the children in my family have not had the same privilege – my niece was five years old when she got off the bus crying one day and when I asked her what had happened she said, “a boy on the bus said he didn’t want to talk to me anymore cause my skin was brown and yellow”. Heartbreaking…it still brings tears to my eyes because I know for a fact that she did not see herself the same way after that day in comparison to how she viewed herself before. We do need more warm and fuzzy in our world.

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Thank you for your post and for sharing your authentic selves. Side note I have to say the cartoon is very true to some experiences I’ve had with high schoolers and I find it hilarious that it includes a student on the very front row who is snoozing….I’ve had that happen too….was not funny then but now that I think back it was kind of funny especially given the personality of this individual.
I think that we all behave slightly differently in different situations, for example, I behave differently with my mother compared to my father or my brothers. I behave differently with friends versus acquaintances….but that does not mean that I am not being genuine in every situation, it is dependent on the role I am fulfilling at that time. If that is true then both your authentic selves are authentic….and there may be times when one of these may float into the other or vice versa.

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Karen your thoughts are always a pleasure to read. I love the quote you used, it makes perfect sense. I know that the first year I ever taught a class I used to have butterflies in my stomach every time as I walked into the room. I do have to say that the environment you create with your students will be unique to you. They will collaborate in creating that environment. It is a two way street. I find that picking up their cues and modifying whatever I had planned for the day helps in students being inspired to learn and motivated to try. You will be great!…I have no doubts.

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Absolutely. We have standardized a reductionistic approach to learning just because people are so comfortable within their own little worlds.

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Life is full of surprises…if you look at it there is no field that cannot be learned side by side with each other..instead we create silos because that is where comfort is for a lot of teachers and learners. However, I do believe that things are changing…hopefully for the best.

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