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.