To give our students power over their world is the best we can do for our students. To give them power or to empower them, in my opinion, is to give them the capacity to make decisions, create success paths, find their passions, build good relationships, contribute, develop confidence, and live a good life.
To give them this power is not only to make them feel good, but to help them develop the skills, perspectives, knowledge, ideas, and overall capacity that will fuel their ability to live good lives. How can we do this?
First, we can give them a really strong and facile foundation of knowledge, concept, and skill. This strong foundation gives students strength for all areas of future pursuit. When students have strong, flexible, and fluid abilities with numeracy, literacy, and a broad knowledge foundation, they are ready to pursue passions, interests, and needs.
Next, we can teach students how to learn with confidence, strength, and ability. If students understand how their brains work, what resources they're able to access, and the attitudes and behaviors that power them up for successful learning, they will be better learners. Just Friday a young man sat next to me continuously sighing as he tried to learn a new concept. He often got the wrong answer and had to ask me many, many questions. I said, don't worry too much as you're forging a new brain path and that's like making a new path in the woods. I asked him if he had ever made a new path in the woods, and how when you do that you get scratched by branches, step into muddy wet holes, rip your pants, and struggle. I noted that it's the same way when you're forging new brain paths--it takes time and struggle to learn that new material. I think he understood the metaphor and continued to persevere--I was so proud of him. The more we let students know that we're all capable of great learning, and learning-to-learn is our path in that direction, the better students do.
After that we can help students know themselves and their world. They need to understand where they are strong, and where they face challenges. They also need to understand where the world supports them, and where their world may set up walls to their success. Understanding the supports and hindrances empowers students. We have to be honest about our world. For example students were asking me about my religion the other day, and I responded that I typically don't say much about my own religion as it's a public school and I want to honor all the religions students celebrate. In public school we don't promote one religion over another, but instead respect all religions. The children who listened to me, children of multiple religions, were comforted by response.
I want to think more about this topic in the days ahead since as I think of my teaching focus at present it is to empower students in my charge--that's my main focus. What would you add to this discussion? How can I develop this intent?
