Expose vs. Educate

I am not a parent, and some professionals might not yet consider me a teacher, although my B.S. in Education might want to boast otherwise (you'll note the 'B.S.'). Anyway, anyway...




For doctors, the worst patients are doctors- the same can be said for teachers: for teachers, the worst parents are teachers. Since I am not either, and have not had the joy of hosting a parent/teacher meeting I have had it in my head that parents (employed as teachers, doctors, or rock stars) are a teacher's worst nightmare. This was never expressly said- generally, I assumed it common knowledge because, well, that was where most of the horror stories about school came from. The funny stories were about students.

But I have learned a new empathy this recent incident because, you see, I don't know how to deny the most curious of eyes who often mirror my own eyes.




My whole life, I have worked to build a filter between my mind and mouth- I think everyone should, and we'll collectively label it DISCERNMENT because knowledge is power, yes, yes, and more yes- of course it is, but 'power'? What kind of 'power' do we talk about when we say 'knowledge is power'?

The best teachers don't just divulge information--teachers aren't the main source of knowledge, hardly--but the best teachers direct where and how to find information- at least in my experience that's what the best teachers do (they also make me laugh, but that's not an academic requirement, not yet). If I want to be the best teacher for my students, and I have the earnest, sincere desire to direct my students; to guide them; to help them; etc., then I also have the responsibility, to a certain extent, 'to keep them safe'.

Now, experience is a good teacher, truly- some lessons can only be learned through experience, but that does not dictate all the other lessons that are better learnt secondhand whether by reading/research, lecture; interviews, but here I've found a thin line: to expose vs. to educate. When you look beyond the line into either side, the two are intertwined, but they are still two different things, otherwise they wouldn't be intertwined, but one blended mush.

I am all about teaching every child about sympathy/empathy, charity/friendship, tolerance, beauty, science/experimentation, culture, materials; etc., but never at the cost of what little innocence every child has. (Perhaps 'innocence' isn't the right word, but 'ignorance' implies too much willfulness.) It may not be the best time to teach kindergartners and first graders about the Holocaust in a casual, after school setting when I have limited time and no prior planning...unfortunately, I needed to experience that lesson.

It may not be the best to put let little Susie prepare dinner all by her little self when she has yet learned how to turn the knobs on the stove.

Each in his or her own time, and frankly, I will not always have the opportunity to decide when the student's 'time' has come to finally know about -inserttopicofinteresthere-. I can speak with utmost clarity and there is still a chance someone misheard me- that is not good enough reason to stop teaching/exposing/educating, but it is good enough reason to examine the individual needs of every student. If so-and-so misunderstood, what can I do to help so-and-so understand? 

Knowledge is totally power. All over that, but wisdom is unparalleled- I need more caregivers than dictators.




So, what new empathy did I breach? This student is someone's child. In my situation, I only have that child for a two to three hours. I don't have to reap the immediate effects of what I've taught, but his or her parents do. Sometimes, I have to unlearn things- that's harder than having to learn something in the first place. When a student is going to hear about the tragedies of this world I hope he or she never learns of its beauties.

• If I had a kid and were somehow able to a fly on the wall in my own classroom, would I be pleased with my own conduct as a teacher? 
• Would I want that particular sort of information expressed in that way? 
• Did I need to be sarcastic there? 
• Should I have worded the question differently? 

These questions don't really have an answer because every situation is different, but never will discernment go out of style.

You'll always need to put broken bones in a cast (unless you have Madame Pomfrey on speed dial), but students aren't bones, and if they break I despise he who says there's only one solution.