All Muslims Are Terrorists, Still?

A freshmen in class as we begun to discuss the religion of Islam made some remarks about Muslims being terrorists. Admittedly, I still find it mind blowingly hocking that there are STILL people out there that believe this, particularly educated people and certainly not privileged people that have the resources at their disposal to know better.

Immediately after 9/11 I could have understood the confusion and perhaps even the need to point the finger at someone "other" in the wake of the devastating losses and violence on our own land. But we have hit the limit on ignorance. It is a fact that hundred of thousands of Americans are Muslims. In a recent story on NPR, they report there are 91 mosques in the greater Chicago area alone. That should be a radically clear indication of the population of our free land.

As a teacher, I am responsible to set them straight. I am responsible for giving them language to use that is appropriate. I am responsible for ending the blind bigotry towards 1 billion of the world's people. It isn't an easy task. I need new ways to help my students engage the material. I have had them create Public Service Announcements. Watch a great episode of Muslims in America by documentarian, Morgan Spurlock. We have discussions, however it's not enough. I can do more, but what?

Piling Up the Knowledge

In the last few years in education there has been a shift from teaching content to teaching skills. The idea is that skills are things that students can use forever whereas content can be only used in the moment to pass a quiz or a test. Sort of like the teach the kid to fish so he can eat everyday, it's a pedagogical teach the kid to think so he can think everyday.

On the surface the concept is great, but as anything it most successful in moderation. Siddhartha's middle way consistently accurate, I find. I digress, it seem like we are constantly attempting to give students more tools in their toolbox but at the end of the day, they have no idea what they are suppose to be building. What is the purpose of teaching them to communicate effectively, if they don't know why they should communicate at all. 

We have begun to say that there is information that students can just "google"  like a geographical place, an definition,  or a quick reference but it don't seem to explain to them how to put it in context with the rest of the information in their heads. Before google we had libraries filled with books filled with information but we didn't dismiss the importance of needing to know where Syria is. Why is it important to know the neighboring countries?

It would be handy to have an understanding of geography now as the Arab Spring has occurred. Knowing the religious backgrounds and historical content of these countries may help us in understanding the reasons for social change or revolt in some cases. How do we teach our students that Google is just a nugget and that they tools that are taught are suppose to be fashioning a great big web of knowledge to make them better global citizens?

Loss of Depth

What am I responsible for as a teacher of religion? Is my objective to teach the details such as rituals, rites, history or am I to engage in discourse about faith? Emotion? Ethics? Difference? And of course the search for Truth?

Every teacher struggles with not having enough time. A few hours a week is not enough to teach everything there is to know about reading, writing and arithmetic thus surely it is not enough time to teach about god. Therefore, we limit ourselves. We set boundaries on what makes the cut and what doesn't. We censor in order to provide more of the big picture, hoping that with that in the hands of students they could examine the material as a virtual Where is Waldo? and they will glean the details. Is it this very idea why we have students that know that Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliette, but can not explain the complexity of family and love that it holds within it's renown sonnets? Is there value in recognition without synthesis; without analysis; without ownership?

An unsure teacher sits and considers the value of the surface in the face of sacrificing the depth.

Independent School Culture?

The first days of school are always exciting to me. I like getting school supplies. I like organizing my folders and printing rosters. I like coming up with the new way  I am going to introduce material for the kids but after a decade in the classroom there is certain comfort that I feel with reinventing lessons and communicating with teenagers. A colleague on the first day of school walk past me in a hurry. I said hello and asked him how the first day of school was going and he said that he was already behind. I questioned, really ? and he responded, don't you always feel like your behind? I shook my head, no not really, and his response before scurrying off was, lucky.

As I really consider this interaction I think that perhaps there is something about the culture of independent schools that leads us as teachers to think that we should always be running. Admittedly it is a fast paced environment and there are so many hats that each person wears that it can really feel like a high speed train ride all of the time, but I wonder, when do you slow down and smell the children? Well, not really smell them, of course but instead pause long enough to appreciate the student. Understanding the experience of the student, relating to them as a teacher leads to more effective teaching. Experience should provide a sense of security for a teacher, not complacency but security.

It makes me stronger to have a solid content base; to have a significant arsenal of ideas and lessons that have worked and failed. It is my safety net as I jump on the trapeze of reinventing each year. I reject the idea that I must feel exhausted and rushed everyday and instead I chose to know my students. To set high expectations for them in the classroom and to understand that as teenagers that their extra-curriculars, families, and social life will be juggled along with their academics. I refuse to feel behind because I want to be in the moment and teach that one lesson the very best I can knowing that there is always something else that I will want to include in a course that won't make it because of time.

The amazing thing about independent school is the opportunities are endless, the communities are strong, and the academics are top notch. If as a teacher I get too caught up in racing through the day (may it be the lesson, the club, the sport) the school loses something.

So, really, after much consideration, I am not behind already.

ReligionTeacher Woman

I have been teaching for 10 years in independent schools. I teach religion. Religion is one of those topics that get some people's feathers all in a flutter but I believe it is the most important class any student will ever take. Why? Because it not only provides a foundation for understanding others in the world but more importantly for understanding one's self.

The assumption is that parents are teaching their children their beliefs thus the student should know them and own them. This is not the truth. Many students not only are unsure of what they believe but because of the beast of adolescence do not want to align themselves with those beliefs professed by their parents. Who better to help than a teacher? A teacher that doesn't have an agenda. A teacher that has an idealistic worldview where everyone respects the beliefs of others and accepts the differences as nothing more than that a difference.

My journey as a teacher is not always an easy sail but I believe in the possibilities of a true globally aware and compassionate student. I believe possibility of religious equality and opportunity for real world peace. I believe in teaching students to communicate effectively, to question the unknown and accept the other. Idealistic? Yes. Naive? Perhaps. My Objective? Absolutely.