Tags
choices, discomfort, growth, learning, personal growth, professional development, professional growth, school
I made the decision to take an online class this summer. It was a carefully considered choice, one which would push me personally and professionally, and one that I knew would lead to growth in both of those areas of my life. I did not fully think about my discomfort with much of the class – the format, getting to know new teammates each week, and considering ideas that are far from my everyday experience at work or at play.
As I write this, I am exactly halfway through the course. I have met people I would never have met otherwise. I’ve entertained ideas about subjects I’d never heard of or read about. I was asked to consider questions and reveal aspects of myself that I typically hold on to tightly. It has been a great experience and a scary one as well.
As I reflected on this class and all that it entailed so far, I was reminded of what we ask of students each day. We ask them to be uncomfortable without fail, and often without giving them the choice to avoid this discomfort. We ask them to work with others who they don’t know, don’t like or who we know won’t contribute fully to the group experience. We ask them to speak up, listen well, be creative, get along with others at all times, and do a good job no matter the subject or their interest in the work. We ask them to be superhuman. Most of us, as adults, would not take on that challenge. Most of us would try to negotiate another way to do things or ask for assistance at every turn. Some of us might even opt out of an experience if it did not have some comfort and familiarity built in.
There are things we do each day that allow us to have choices, and some things we simply have to do. Children must attend school. Time in school can be spent in a variety of ways that involve student choice along with the “have tos.” How do we want students to spend their time in school and recall their days in school in the future? Will they remember the learning, challenges and enjoyment, or the intense discomfort and unknowns? Balance is the key to building the strength needed to learn and grow.
As I listened to 
Several years ago, two friends and I led a two-week summer camp. The theme was the brain and how it works. We focused our efforts on offering activities that would allow campers to give a thumbs up or thumbs down to a variety of experiences. The goal was for them to discover what they find easy or enjoying doing, as well what they find hard or uninteresting. We all participated in activities that were easy, just right, or difficult.
That just about says it all. We can never know everything about everything. It is simply not possible. Schools teach a body of knowledge striving to ensure that children evolve into literate and educated adults. No matter what is included in that body of knowledge, no matter what electives students choose as they move through school, and no matter how long they are in school, they will leave not knowing things. That is the paradox of education. We are in school to learn; we leave with more knowledge than we started with and even more things we don’t know.
Schools are interesting places. When I was in school, students remained many steps removed from the adults in the community. A distance was set by the adults, and it was not crossed. Not so today. Research shows time and again that building relationships between teachers, families and students is the best way to support learning.
New math. Digital literacy. Executive function. Soft skills. None of these things were “things” when we were in school. Education seemed straightforward to us. We were taught something, memorized it, shared it on the test and moved on to the next topic. Most of us had no clue as to how rules of language, math or science came to be. We accepted what we were taught. The end. 
The Montessori Message 