Sometimes life is so random

So much of our schooling life concentrates around us being logical and rational when in reality human beings are anything but logical and rational at times. There appears to be be a great need to explain things and prove the world around us as though we are in some type of ever going lab experiment. At times we don't know what to do with our students when they appear irrational and do not appear to have a valid reason for not coming to class or completing work.

 We are not programmed to deal with the irrational and at times push it aside when in fact brilliance can come from a place that is unexplained, hidden and comes deep from within. We ask our students to show their unique voice in what they write and then place it within a marking criteria and judge this uniqueness within a scale we deem 'logical and rational' all the time undermining the purity in which is was delivered. 

I know there are some educationalists who see marks as being totally destructive to the development of a child and there are others who see the great importance of marks in driving success and change. The means of measuring success comes from the grade not necessarily the process or the work gone into it. A great debate around this topic has gone on for many years and will continue to do so. What I love about my students is the unique way they write and express themselves and whilst I can ask them to fix punctuation and spelling I don't want to tamper with the voice that is uniquely theirs. 

We ask our Scientists to think outside the box to fix problems in nature or with medicine,
we love art that at times can not be explained,
we hear music that is so beautiful it makes us cry. 

How can we teach our students logic and rationality when what we really want is a balance of the two? Emotion, spirituality, logic and ration are things we value in our society as they form our belief and understanding of the world we live. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that our students walk in the door everyday with these things on board in the way they have interpreted them that day. 


So can the complexities in life become irrelevant for that hour or two we are with our students that we must remove them as we walk into class and put on our professional selves? I think not. To deny our true selves and not to teach from the heart would be a great injustice to our students. We must show by example our love of learning, not just our knowledge of content. Passion, drive, empathy, understanding, and a great amount of heart is all that is required to teach the whole student not just the logical and rational. 

I hope this week there can be shared joy in the learning process. 

Until next week,

K