The Challenge Remains the Same

Given the public cry for school reform, it is too easy to lose sight of the task at hand. The challenge remains the same...to help young people to grow.

Too often the short term, often mandated, school initiatives revolve around state test scores, standardized testing, and getting to college. I realize these are very real programs encountered along the way but they don't get to the core of our real task as educators, to see to it that we help students grow.

As people in the business of teaching we know darn well that getting students headed in the right direction means we have to engage students in profound and meaningful ways. It means that we have to see to it that we create a spark, that we help foster a real urge to learn. Along the way, as teachers, we find ways to instill in young people a sense of self-discipline, a self discipline that is used in the classroom and elsewhere.

Teachers realize, through their teaching, that they have a calling to find ways to make students responsible for their actions whether positive or negative. Not an easy task, for sure, but one that has lasting lessons for the learner.

Our profession calls on us to provide provocative and meaningful lessons so that students learn to ask questions, to consider options, and to find solutions. Is there anyone out there reading this that doubts the importance of acting on these lessons throughout life? I truly doubt it.

Yes, 'the challenge remains the same,' to spark an interest in learning, to help create an environment where self-discipline and responsible behavior are nurtured, and to encourage students to question/consider options and find solutions to problems.

When we find schools willing to take up these challenges, and others, we love to support them!

Many thanks,
Dick