Good afternoon, dear reader.
I’m coming to you in a break during my day as my APUSH students take their final test of the year before the big exam in a couple of weeks. I don’t usually post during this time of the week, and will still have a more think-y post that drops on Friday at six am (have no fear).
I subscribe to Adrian Neibauer’s delightful Substack where he reflects on teaching, though sometimes I’m afraid to open his posts. Reading and thinking about teaching when you do it as your job can be frightening because there’s always someone out there doing it better. Being prone to comparison, it can feel jarring rather than inspiring to read about other people’s success.
Because of this I’ve had his latest post sitting open in a tab on my work computer for the last few days. Just waiting to be read. Whispering my name. Taunting me. This morning I summoned the courage to read it, and found myself both challenged and inspired. Neibauer reflects on a particularly challenging group of 5th graders who have resisted his every effort to challenge, excite, and engage them throughout the year. He reflects some one the reasons for this, but toward the end expresses his desire for his students to see the relevance of being a lifelong learner:
In Japan, there is a specific term for this type of relevance: ikigai. It embodies the idea of happiness in living. In the United States, many understand ikigai as an overlapping intersection of what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for. Ikigai is something deeper, however. It’s the reason people wake up in the morning. Ikigai is composed of two words: iki, which means life and gai, which describes value or worth. According to Akihiro Hasegawa, a clinical psychologist and associate professor at Toyo Eiwa University, the origin of the word ikigai goes back to the Heian period (794 to 1185). “Gai comes from the word kai (“shell” in Japanese, considered highly valuable), and from there ikigai derived as a word that means value in living.” Over time, ikigai evolved to be thought of as a comprehensive concept that incorporates such values in life. . .
I may not be able to teach my students to care about Geometry or the Revolutionary War as deeply as I do (or at all), but perhaps I can teach my students in these final weeks of fifth-grade about finding their ikigai. I’m currently designing a learning experience where my students reflect on their reason for being. Even if I failed at helping my students grow academically, I want them leaving my classroom with a strong sense of self. I want them to know that learning doesn’t have to be boring. I may not be able to teach them to care about school, but I’m going to spend these last 24 days teaching my students how to care for themselves. I won’t stop trying to get them to care about learning math or becoming a stronger reader. I want them to be independent, not needing me to constantly push them to think and work hard. As David Labaree says, “One of the cool things about being a teacher is you make yourself unnecessary if you do your job well.” I don’t know if I was that great of a teacher this year, but perhaps I can still inspire a love of learning; even if they kick back and fight me every step of the way. They may be cantankerous, but they’re mine.
I appreciate that while Neibauer recognizes the importance of the subjects he is teaching, he also points out that there is something deeper going on in education. Education isn’t just informative, it’s formative. Every moment in a classroom has the potential to shape a student (and, if we’re being real, shape teachers). We should walk out of a classroom being changed for the better.
This kind of honesty is refreshing, and was more inspiring to me than jarring, to my mildly pleasant surprise. This idea of students leaving a classroom with a sense of self, learning that learning doesn’t need to be boring, and to find their sense of purpose? Man. I want my class to be like that.
My temptation is to think of all the ways it isn’t right now. The lesson I had the other day that I kinda phoned in. The assignment I graded for completion rather than actually looking to see if they learned anything. The student interaction where I let frustration rather than grace govern my response.
But that isn’t every moment. I also keep a folder in my desk of student notes, printed out emails, and a couple survey responses that are affirming of the moments in my class that do change students for the better. The student who wrote me a note saying “I used to hate history, but now I love it and see why its so important.” Or the note a young lady wrote me apologizing that she plagiarized her assignment, telling me that my class has motivated her to work towards better meeting her potential.
I’ll admit that there are precious few of these notes compared to the total number of students I’ve taught these last four years. But they remind me of the saying one of my professors, Erik Johnson, instilled in me: Don’t be perfect, be faithful. Simply showing up, being faithful to the students in front of me that day, and doing my best is all I can do. More often than not, that’s enough. When it isn’t, the Lord gives us the grace to come back another day.
So for my colleagues who subscribe and are feeling frustrated with the apathy they see every day, remember to be faithful, not perfect. Keep bringing the enthusiasm for what you do each day. Some students may verbalize what this means, but most will not. And that’s ok.
I mostly wrote this for myself- I need the encouragement today. But I hope that there’s a nugget in here that benefits you as well.
See you Friday.
Wow! Thank you for writing this response to one of my own posts. Your professor's advice is going to sit with me for a while; almost like a mantra. Teaching post-pandemic is very challenging and I think that consistency is best. We are not perfect teachers, but if we keep showing up for our kids, it will have an impact.
This reminds me of another piece of advice that Dr. John Spencer received from one of his mentors: Some Lessons Are Crap. That’s Okay. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXXWnIL_5N0
I feel like many teachers fail at making their students love learning, which makes the students just complete the work for a grade. This makes the students just get through the class and then forget about everything that they "learned" after they are done with it. Teachers really need to focus on promoting learning rather than what grade you get at the end of the class.