At the end of a very long day supply teaching in a grade 2 class, a confident and curious 7- year-old boy approached me in the classroom and asked me, “Are you here for the teachers or the kids?” I’ve been a teacher for the past 22 years and this was a brand new question for me. I was taken back at first as my brain was trying to comprehend what the young boy was asking me. Usually I am very good at giving ‘wait time’ to my students which is allowing a space between questions and answers in the classroom. Yet this time, I needed a longer wait time than usual for I was speechless until my brain released the following response after a good 10 seconds, “ I am here for kids!” His reaction was quick and spontaneous, “Cool!!" followed by a high five and then he went back to playing lego with his friend on the carpet.
After the bell rang and the students left for home or aftercare or sports teams, other questions ran through my teacher head as I reflected on that curious question. Did this boy feel that his school was run by adults for the benefit of the adults and not for the benefit of the kids? Do some teachers make rules for their school day to make their day easier instead of easier for the kids? Why would he ask a strange teacher whom he only knew for a day that question? Was it because I gave the kids some free time to play cooperative games at the end of the day after they worked hard to finish their work? Was it because I am an open person and he perceived that and felt safe asking that question of me?
Part of me looked around the school and saw a very traditional educational framework. Was this a child that benefited from a traditional direct teaching framework or needed more choice in his learning? So hard to tell after only one day with him. Yet I wanted to try to understand where he was coming from.
During my M.Ed., I remember reading a qualitative research study that stated that children’s natural curiosity about the world persists until the age of 7. At that point if their questions are not longer listened to, valued or discussed by the teachers, their curiosity will be stifled and they will eventually stop asking questions. This young boy is on that cusp. It is my hope that his curiosity and ability to ask questions of others and topics that interest does not stop. Yet the final piece that holds that puzzle together is the teacher. The bottom line is we as teachers have the power to build up and support children on their own personal learning journey or the power to suppress, give lots of rules, lots of direction and stifle the creative spirit.
At the end of the day I became a teacher to educate, motivate, hopefully inspire and just be with the children. I wonder how other teachers would react to that same question by that 7- year-old boy say at 5, 10, 20 years plus in the job. My hope is each teacher would answer with my response, "I am here for the kids!!"
Comments