Ninth Teaching Reflection

Teachers care. That's why we teach. We care about our students. We care about the future. We care about our communities, our country, and our world. Caring is a prerequisite for teaching that does not appear on anyone's CV and cannot be taught (even in Pedagogy class.)

Compassion is a virtue diminishing in many circles these days. More and more I hear people say: "Why should I care? It doesn't effect me," or "It's not my responsibility," and "That's their problem, not mine." True statements all, but so sad to hear, especially from students. Where do they get that attitude? Oh wait, kids take their cues from adults, right? Teachers are adults............. sometimes. So is this self-centered attitude a normative problem, or something even bigger? Obviously something bigger, much bigger, and it's like a cancer eating away at the very core of our culture. It's taking away from us the things we love, and the the things we love about being people.

So what do I do about this? I try to draw the line between the words that some call it apathy and some call it empathy... but this is my response to the plague of "uncaring." I remember a student in my classroom saying that a project "sucked" (e.g. a very popular adjective among the high school and undergraduate crowd.) That sent me over the edge... and of course (even though I should have toned it down a bit) I went off on a diatribe explaining how easy it is to criticize, especially when the criticizer does nothing to contribute to the culture and community they live in. They are the takers, the destroyers, and their behavior, the exact reification of the "suckiness."

The lines are clearly drawn these days between the givers and the takers. So many apathetic individuals allow for their uncaring to override their learning. They revel in their own self-pity, and will gladly insult you for your arrogance in working to better yourself, your community, and your world. The same world they inhabit, waiting impatiently for the next disappointment, the next let down, the next giver to fall down into the depths of their own personal hell. This cancer is real, and spreading.

Who will fight the innate ickiness of not giving a crap? Teachers.

Some will say that these are the people who are the real super-heros of our age. We are the role models. We are the champions of right. We are the ones who are dug deep in the trenches of the battlefield, fighting daily the attitudes of the wicked status-quo following masses. Not all teachers see themselves this way. That is a problem. If teachers are not fighting the "Battle of Who Could Care Less" then they are contributing to the problem.

In thinking of hopeful opportunities for our students, we can find solace in knowing that our instruction will allow for the greater good to prevail. It's up to the teachers to be positive optimists focused on life's loves and the conveyance of the importance of effective communication. Teachers need to support the efforts of their students to go out and contribute to the success of their community. Teachers need to discourage the apathy (promoting empathy), to snuff out the discontent, and to motivate those entrusted to their realm of influence to become better then they believe they can be. Impossible task? Somedays it feels that way. But if we teachers lose our compassion. If we lose that part of us that truly gives a damn, then what? If our schools are not safe-havens of hope for the future, then the cancer of pessimism and uncaring will truly take over.

So, the teachers must fight this ongoing "battle" in our classrooms on a daily because that is where the difference will be made for our students, our futures, our communities, our country, and our world.

Fine. LOL