I have been listening to several Edu All-Star podcasts in the past few weeks. I get hooked listening to an episode while I go out for a run. My mind just races while listening to the podcast that I often wish for pen and paper or a stronger memory.
Some of my favorite podcast episodes are the interviews with Todd Whitaker, Angela Maiers, and Pernille Ripp. As I listen to many of them I am fascinated by their story, affirmed by their beliefs and practices, and engaged by their energy. It is fascinating to listen to each All-Star’s responses to some of the same questions posed to each individual. For example, the show always begins with the interviewee telling the listeners about their journey into education. As I have listened to several people and those I especially enjoy reading and following via social media and their publications, I started to notice a trend - a majority of them were “messy” learners. They were perhaps reluctant learners, had difficulties in school or just went through the motions of school. Listening to their story and reflecting on mine lead me to ask - do the great teachers have to have a history of being “messy” learners? As I reflect on my school experience, I have often asked myself how my story has shaped me as a teacher. I didn’t enjoy when learning got “messy” but I remember every time it did!
I was a good kid. I worked really hard, got good grades, listened, never talked, did all of my homework, never asked questions and rarely got in trouble. This is what a good kid meant in my immediate circle of influence growing up. It wasn’t until my sophomore year in college that I learned this was not a definition of a good kid but a compliant kid. I realized all of my work in school up to that point was read, recite, memorize, test, forget - nothing messy about it. I had smatterings of real, messy learning in elementary school, 9th grade civics, and 11th grade English. But real learning began in general biology sophomore year of college.
I could always do well in school because I always did everything the teachers asked, made it look pretty and neat, and memorized enough to pass a test. I could even fake this learning in AP classes. Getting an A in AP biology made me very comfortable going into general biology in college. Needless to say I was completely wrong! I had never worked, studied, collaborated with classmates, and interacted with teachers as much as I did that semester to earn a C-. It is the one grade I am most proud of and also one subject that I could talk about on a whim (things like ketosis or even cellular respiration mean something to me despite my little use of it).
As I have thought about this experience often, it also allowed me to reflect on the learning situations earlier that did get “messy.” My 6th grade teacher was my most influential teacher I ever had. He was the first person to show me the power of text. He read Fahrenheit 451 to us out loud that year and the conversations we were having were awesome! We listened to Crash Test Dummy songs (I still love to listen to their Superman song) and analyzed the song lyrics. I began to fall in love with words and what they meant (this was short lived as English was squashed for me until my junior year). This same teacher also had us try to solve how we would travel to a distance planet, star or galaxy. The project was really wide open but we had to always justify our reasoning. We had to figure out distance to these locations, how far it would take to go there if we traveled the speed of light, how old we would be if we traveled at this speed, what we would need to survive, what we would do when we arrived, how we would share our learning when we returned to Earth, and so much more. I was 12 and it is a vivid memory!
I think all teachers have these great memories from influential teachers of their past. I think they are a required piece of the puzzle that inspires teachers to dive into this profession. But are the great teachers the ones that were always asking why, struggling in school, and non-compliant? Can teachers that were compliant students be great teachers? Can teachers that were once compliant students grow into non-compliant or maybe risk-taking adults? Maybe it really isn’t a question about compliancy but the learning journey that occurs to continue to improve and grow to be a great teacher.
I know what I believe as a teacher in my classroom - I want a room full of honest questioners who resist status quo, challenge, and get messy with their learning. I like when the learning is “messy” and that there is not one way to do things, that the question is open ended, and the iterations along the way are pushing the current understandings. I don’t want students to experience school the way I did for most of my career. I want them to be proud of the uncomfortableness of not knowing but thinking and learning in non-standard ways, using real-life situations and context to create messiness in their learning lives.
I’m proud of what my educational journey has taught me and that along the way it has allowed me to clearly articulate and define my teaching philosophy and beliefs. As I was told often growing up from my father, “you always learn something, even if it is what not to do.” Here’s to the great teachers that embrace the messiness of learning with every student they encounter!
Some of my favorite podcast episodes are the interviews with Todd Whitaker, Angela Maiers, and Pernille Ripp. As I listen to many of them I am fascinated by their story, affirmed by their beliefs and practices, and engaged by their energy. It is fascinating to listen to each All-Star’s responses to some of the same questions posed to each individual. For example, the show always begins with the interviewee telling the listeners about their journey into education. As I have listened to several people and those I especially enjoy reading and following via social media and their publications, I started to notice a trend - a majority of them were “messy” learners. They were perhaps reluctant learners, had difficulties in school or just went through the motions of school. Listening to their story and reflecting on mine lead me to ask - do the great teachers have to have a history of being “messy” learners? As I reflect on my school experience, I have often asked myself how my story has shaped me as a teacher. I didn’t enjoy when learning got “messy” but I remember every time it did!
I was a good kid. I worked really hard, got good grades, listened, never talked, did all of my homework, never asked questions and rarely got in trouble. This is what a good kid meant in my immediate circle of influence growing up. It wasn’t until my sophomore year in college that I learned this was not a definition of a good kid but a compliant kid. I realized all of my work in school up to that point was read, recite, memorize, test, forget - nothing messy about it. I had smatterings of real, messy learning in elementary school, 9th grade civics, and 11th grade English. But real learning began in general biology sophomore year of college.
I could always do well in school because I always did everything the teachers asked, made it look pretty and neat, and memorized enough to pass a test. I could even fake this learning in AP classes. Getting an A in AP biology made me very comfortable going into general biology in college. Needless to say I was completely wrong! I had never worked, studied, collaborated with classmates, and interacted with teachers as much as I did that semester to earn a C-. It is the one grade I am most proud of and also one subject that I could talk about on a whim (things like ketosis or even cellular respiration mean something to me despite my little use of it).
As I have thought about this experience often, it also allowed me to reflect on the learning situations earlier that did get “messy.” My 6th grade teacher was my most influential teacher I ever had. He was the first person to show me the power of text. He read Fahrenheit 451 to us out loud that year and the conversations we were having were awesome! We listened to Crash Test Dummy songs (I still love to listen to their Superman song) and analyzed the song lyrics. I began to fall in love with words and what they meant (this was short lived as English was squashed for me until my junior year). This same teacher also had us try to solve how we would travel to a distance planet, star or galaxy. The project was really wide open but we had to always justify our reasoning. We had to figure out distance to these locations, how far it would take to go there if we traveled the speed of light, how old we would be if we traveled at this speed, what we would need to survive, what we would do when we arrived, how we would share our learning when we returned to Earth, and so much more. I was 12 and it is a vivid memory!
I think all teachers have these great memories from influential teachers of their past. I think they are a required piece of the puzzle that inspires teachers to dive into this profession. But are the great teachers the ones that were always asking why, struggling in school, and non-compliant? Can teachers that were compliant students be great teachers? Can teachers that were once compliant students grow into non-compliant or maybe risk-taking adults? Maybe it really isn’t a question about compliancy but the learning journey that occurs to continue to improve and grow to be a great teacher.
I know what I believe as a teacher in my classroom - I want a room full of honest questioners who resist status quo, challenge, and get messy with their learning. I like when the learning is “messy” and that there is not one way to do things, that the question is open ended, and the iterations along the way are pushing the current understandings. I don’t want students to experience school the way I did for most of my career. I want them to be proud of the uncomfortableness of not knowing but thinking and learning in non-standard ways, using real-life situations and context to create messiness in their learning lives.
I’m proud of what my educational journey has taught me and that along the way it has allowed me to clearly articulate and define my teaching philosophy and beliefs. As I was told often growing up from my father, “you always learn something, even if it is what not to do.” Here’s to the great teachers that embrace the messiness of learning with every student they encounter!