Learners and Leadership

I love each and every one of my learners.  Each of them is my favourite for some reason or other.  240 favourite people who are learning from me and are in my care.  I feel so honoured that they trust me to take care of them, love them, and teach them in the best ways I know how, and that they are helping teach me to become a more calm and loving person.  I help them find, learn from and improve on their flaws, and they graciously return the favour.  We got on that way. Making mistakes, learning and fixing together. 

I see leadership as being someone perhaps with more experience guiding from behind as others discover the pathway forward for themselves, knowing that they have someone from whom they can get directions if they get lost.  I am not a fan of making lists of negatives (Don't Run. Don't Dive in the Shallow End... etc).  Instead, I like lists of positives (Please walk. Please only dive after 10 feet depth... etc).  Doing this for leadership is really hard.  I'm learning a lot of things that I don't want to do as a leader of a classroom or other group of people.  But I will try to make a few positive statements about the kind of leader I want to be. 

• Only ask people to do things that you would do yourself, but for learning or extenuating circumstances, it is better for them to do them.  Do the dishes sometimes, sweep the floor sometimes, fill up your own water bottle, carry your own books.
• Accept help when it is offered, and know that having that help will broaden the scope of what you are doing.
• Leave the office to see things in motion.
• Provide everyone in your structure with concrete, clear job descriptions and opportunities to clarify that description and expectations.
• Do. Your. Job. All the time.
• Know everyone. All. The. Time.

That last one brings me to my immediate inspiration for writing this post.  My learners.  I love them all so, so much.

1. The one who is so young, and so clearly still in need of motherly attention. I want to put him in my pocket.
2. The one who wants to be involved in everything I am involved in, and who has become my shadow. Seriously. He thinks he can sneak up on me when I'm marking papers in my classroom. Tries almost daily. (He succeeded once. Never again!)
3. The four who are really more like friends than learners, and I probably get way more relaxed with them than I should.  But if they were a few years older/not any older but just not a learner, I'd totally be friends with them! They are my rocks.
4. The one who is so loving and observant that I avoid him when I'm upset because he'll ask what's wrong and I just can't look him in his sweet face and say that everything is fine when sometimes I'm only hanging on by a thread.  He'll just come share a chair with me on those days.
5. The one who is so caring for those in her class and all around her. The sweetest smile I have ever seen, and she stays up late when people are sick to keep them company/check on them.
6. The one who wants desperately to be a mature woman, but also just loves Disney Channel, so tries to emulate that weird mix of adult/child that only Disney Channel can create.
7. The one who was so depressed because she didn't know she was a good person.
8. The ones who are trouble makers. I just love my four loud boys who never shut up. I love their ADHD tendencies.
9. The girl who has a major ego, which obviously stems from both her upbringing in a family that doesn't value tribal diversity of the country and her brilliance. She's too good for these... people. Ugh.
10. The one who writes poetry and is otherwise quiet.
11. The one who writes poetry and never shuts up.
12. The flamboyant boy who has the strut.
13. The young men who flirt with all the girls, but actually have this immense fear of both girls and the future. (These are the same ones who say "As you wish" to me... still)
14. The one who wears chains and walks like a g, but also spoke very sweetly about the father figure in a play.
15. The one who comes from a very rural village from a very isolated tribe and works so hard to catch up to the rest of the learners.
16. The one who asks me for help with study skills so that she can improve her marks.
17. The ones who play the game they designed to review for a subject when they have study time.
18. The one who sucks up to all the teachers, but tries to reap the rewards too soon. She came into the middle of a different class during the 5th week of school, came straight up to me because she had a paper cut.  Dude, don't interrupt my class with that. But you're cute and obviously I love you!  Now go away.
19. The one who always asks me about books and myths.
20. The one who is always trying to help, but never tries to reap any rewards from it.
21. The one who is so competitive and talented. He stole the stage acting as an older teacher; I think he was channelling one of the teachers here.
22. The one who wants to be an astronaut.
23. The ones who think they can smile their way out of anything.  And they usually make me laugh. So they do get out of many things that way.
24. The one who uses dictionary words all the time. "Have a stupendous day, Miss." "Miss, thank you for being so accommodating and candid." "Miss, don't let our antics delay you. Clearly, you are flabbergasted."
25. The one who wouldn't eat at the beginning of the year, hoping that we would send her home, and her friends who got her to eat in those first days, and who now all laugh and play and study together.
26. The one who cried non-stop for the first week here who is now completely adjusted and one of the most friendly and loved learners.
27. The learner who really turned his act around 180 degrees after first term. He was causing so many problems, but now is such a strong leader in his class.

I could go on and on for another 200 learners. Each face

Mustard Seeds

"Faith is a mustard seed," Jesus told us (I think it was Jesus... Anyway... a representative of God said that once). That is so true.  It's also true of almost every other emotion, feeling or action.  Give someone a small opportunity for leadership, and with proper TLC, that leadership can take root in that person, so that a leadership tree sprouts from their ears.  Give someone a little bit of love, and that love will grow within that person--both for themselves and for others.  Humans are remarkable creatures, and this idea that we can take just a little hint of some emotion, feeling or action from others and grow and create our own shows me how incredibly interconnected we are. 

Working with kids, you get to see this ten hundred times a day.  "Johannes, can you collect the papers, please?" "Hey Teresa, great job on your art project!" "Douglas, thank you so much for your focus in class today!" "Thank you so much for giving me your attention right away Simon!" "Jason, your smile is infectious! Thanks for bringing it to class." "Juliette, you are such a good friend." Watch the seeds grow.  A hug for a fourteen year old can save her life.  It's inspiring and terrifying to see just how much of an effect these small phrases can have on young people. 

Because unfortunately, fear and animosity are also like mustard seeds.  Just a little bit of these demonstrated or created by teachers will also grow inside a learner, if it's allowed to.  And this can lead to these learners fearing creativity, non-self, change and authority. It can create these vicious cycles, where once adulthood is reached, these feelings are taken out on the kids--a "this happened to me, and I hated it, so now I'm going to do it to you" mentality, instead of a "how can I make things better for you, this time around?" one.  Now you've got an environment which isn't safe or conducive to learning, because it's full of fear and anger. 

It's the job of the teacher not to let their emotions run them.  It's our job to ensure a positive and safe learning environment for the learners, no matter how you feel about a co-worker or even the kids themselves.  It's a teacher's job to love our learners no matter what.  I'm not saying it's our job to coddle them; consequences for actions are extremely necessary for learning and correction of behaviour.  Planting the seeds of self-love, positivity and growth is our job.

Grade 11s studying seeders

Grade 8s watching transplanting