thoughts on teaching

Just the other day, a member of our high school publications staff, a former student and very nice young lady, asked if I would answer some questions for their “Beat Sheet.” Here, I thought I would expand on some of my original responses about something I care about deeply, teaching. I will list my original response, followed by a few additional comments.

“The Beat Sheet”

What do you feel is the best part of teaching?

Probably the best part of teaching is interacting with so many fine young people and having the opportunity to participate in their personal and educational journeys.

Without a doubt, the greatest blessing associated with my job is that of associating with some of the tremendous young people I’ve gotten to know over the years. You hear a lot about how bad kids are–and, frankly, this is sometimes warranted–but you don’t hear enough about the terrific young people who walk our hallways. Though they are only young adults, and while they obviously lack experience, it is amazing how mature many of them are. Intellectually, socially, emotionally–they are sometimes surprisingly well-seasoned and real-world ready. Of course, as I’ve already mentioned, they are still very young and therefore not as seasoned as their older counterparts (old fogies?). This is why young people need to tap into the expertise and experience of others. Indeed, this is why they require an education in the first place. And it is also, in part, why I love being an educator. One of the really cool things about teaching is that, at some level, I get to join some of these young people on their journey. To be honest, I think the whole process is good for me, providing an ongoing revitalization to my own journey. What a privilege, I often think, to be able to participate in such a relevant process. The best part of teaching is the very thing I encounter each day, super young people.

What is the most important thing you want to teach your students?

That education is a journey, and that knowledge is powerful only when it is linked to wisdom.

Too often, I think, we view education as simply the accumulation of facts, as something at which we hope to arrive. Of course there are milestones along the way, accomplishments that we rightly celebrate. One of them is graduation. But education never stops there, and it was never intended to be viewed merely as a level we reach but also a path that we follow. There is this notion, mistaken in my view, that all we have to do it file away facts, collect pieces of data, and all will be well. While knowledge is clearly essential to the educational enterprise, at least as important is the ability to harness that knowledge and apply it with discernment. What is required, in other words, is wisdom. Knowledge involves facts, theories, principles, and similar things. Wisdom, while drawing from these facts, is oriented to life. In my opinion, knowledge combined with wisdom is the pathway to true success.

How do you define a successful student?

Successful students are those who are committed to utilizing their gifts, determined to give positive expression to what they’ve learned, and able to embrace the reality that education is a lifelong endeavor.

We are all gifted in different ways. It would be a pretty boring world if we all possessed the same skills and interests. This is why it really matters that we come to recognize our own abilities and gifts. Though we should seek to be well-rounded as students and human beings, there’s no denying our individuality. A part of success, then, is a willingness to remain cognizant of the many contours of our own personalities. Though I have no doubt that some people stress out in their efforts to (too narrowly?) define themselves, I think it is important to be ourselves and to learn to be, as someone once said, comfortable in our own skin. This is part of what education is about. As already mentioned, there is more to learning than the accumulation of facts. Something is truly wrong if we are so “top heavy,” consumed merely with intellectual endeavors, that we never seem able to give expression to what we know, to make use of knowledge gains. The intellectual, the academic–these are essential and ought never be downplayed. But intellectual endeavors should also find application in our lives. Education entails taking what we have learned and inculcating it in helpful ways. The application of various truths is not something that ever reaches an end. Though we often (and rightly) applaud those who are “learned” (i.e., those who have attained a measure of competence in this area or that), it is perhaps more important to be a “learner.” We are all learners, partially finished masterpieces, shaped by personal choices (academic and otherwise) and by forces outside of ourselves. For our part, it is important to recognize this process and to embrace the journey. Among other things, education is a lifelong endeavor.

Well, there you have it, some rather off-the-cuff remarks about education. Thanks, Chelsea, for “forcing” me to think about these important matters! Mr. DiCello ☺