You are helping them become not just better writers and better thinkers, but better human beings. Keep up the (difficult, exhausting, frustrating, infuriating) good work, Chuck!
You may (not) be surprised to hear that these are the same type of struggles occurring down at the beginning of the education journey. The last two weeks my kindergarteners and I have been focusing on “integrity,” and through that might not mean real, honest writing without AI, they’re also tempted constantly to take the easy way out (not being truthful, skimping on their class job, copying math work). This will always be true, though I think your situation is way more complex since it involves grades and degrees and such. What struck me as most similar though is the conundrum of capacity: there’s only so much time to teach these vital things and we can only do so much given our caseload, and it’s maddening to have to triage. Thanks again Chuck and keep it up ✊
I appreciate you fighting the good fight. Hopefully some college instructors years down the road will benefit from the integrity those kids learned in your room!
Chuck, both parts of this series are super exciting to read. It's about the deconstruction of hierarchy in a way that's so needed.
In my faith, we don't have a creedal doctrine and endeavor for a non-hierarchical structure. So where in many religious traditions, clergy are ordained by God, we are ordained by the people. All our power is freely given to us, and is only as meaningful as the trust we can foster within our communities.
I learn every day that nobody, child or adult, actually grows from being told what to think and do. The true enrichment happens when everyone understands they are a team, working towards a goal together, with a clear picture of what that goal is. I am useful in my role not as someone "in charge," but as an expert with training and skill who my congregants can turn to for guidance.
After surviving the grade school system, it's no wonder your students require a lot of labor to unlearn the dynamic that's been driven into them. Of course they believe the goal is to jump through all the hoops and get the certificate. And it's a marvelous thing that you manage to break through to so many of them. This will change their view of education forever.
At the end of the day, the students who take shortcuts are the ones losing. They are losing the opportunity to grow with you and develop the skills they will need to thrive.
And the most irritating part about all of this is that you are ONE teacher within a system which fundamentally does not share your values. If you totally remove the cop shit and hierarchy from your classroom, you risk accusations of underperforming at your job.
Strength to you, and thank you for being the person you are.
"I am useful in my role not as someone "in charge," but as an expert with training and skill who my congregants can turn to for guidance." This is such a good articulation of what so many people get wrong, and what I'm trying to get right. Thank you for your insights!!
Really loved this, Chuck. I am facing the same struggle as a high school teacher, and have this sensation, as well, of "building the plane while it's flying." I struggle with some of the knee-jerk reactions of other adults (looping the use of AI under a blanket plagiarism policy), and also with how to work with this new development (chat GPT) that I am opposed to but sadly does not seem to be going anywhere. Reading this made me feel less alone. Appreciate you!
Devon Price shared a quote from this essay and I am so grateful he led me to you. This is a phenomenal exploration of what it is like to take practical steps to be/do better, to rise above tired prejudices disguised as common sense (e.g. children need to be punished and policed in order to learn whats right and wrong and succeed in the world, or that we need to "face reality" instead of foolishly striving for a better world), to meet people where theyre at with grace and humility, to fail in various ways at doing all of the above amid absurd demands on your time and energy and sanity, and then to try again anyway. I'll carry this with me. Thanks!
You are helping them become not just better writers and better thinkers, but better human beings. Keep up the (difficult, exhausting, frustrating, infuriating) good work, Chuck!
Thanks pops!
You may (not) be surprised to hear that these are the same type of struggles occurring down at the beginning of the education journey. The last two weeks my kindergarteners and I have been focusing on “integrity,” and through that might not mean real, honest writing without AI, they’re also tempted constantly to take the easy way out (not being truthful, skimping on their class job, copying math work). This will always be true, though I think your situation is way more complex since it involves grades and degrees and such. What struck me as most similar though is the conundrum of capacity: there’s only so much time to teach these vital things and we can only do so much given our caseload, and it’s maddening to have to triage. Thanks again Chuck and keep it up ✊
I appreciate you fighting the good fight. Hopefully some college instructors years down the road will benefit from the integrity those kids learned in your room!
Chuck, both parts of this series are super exciting to read. It's about the deconstruction of hierarchy in a way that's so needed.
In my faith, we don't have a creedal doctrine and endeavor for a non-hierarchical structure. So where in many religious traditions, clergy are ordained by God, we are ordained by the people. All our power is freely given to us, and is only as meaningful as the trust we can foster within our communities.
I learn every day that nobody, child or adult, actually grows from being told what to think and do. The true enrichment happens when everyone understands they are a team, working towards a goal together, with a clear picture of what that goal is. I am useful in my role not as someone "in charge," but as an expert with training and skill who my congregants can turn to for guidance.
After surviving the grade school system, it's no wonder your students require a lot of labor to unlearn the dynamic that's been driven into them. Of course they believe the goal is to jump through all the hoops and get the certificate. And it's a marvelous thing that you manage to break through to so many of them. This will change their view of education forever.
At the end of the day, the students who take shortcuts are the ones losing. They are losing the opportunity to grow with you and develop the skills they will need to thrive.
And the most irritating part about all of this is that you are ONE teacher within a system which fundamentally does not share your values. If you totally remove the cop shit and hierarchy from your classroom, you risk accusations of underperforming at your job.
Strength to you, and thank you for being the person you are.
"I am useful in my role not as someone "in charge," but as an expert with training and skill who my congregants can turn to for guidance." This is such a good articulation of what so many people get wrong, and what I'm trying to get right. Thank you for your insights!!
Really loved this, Chuck. I am facing the same struggle as a high school teacher, and have this sensation, as well, of "building the plane while it's flying." I struggle with some of the knee-jerk reactions of other adults (looping the use of AI under a blanket plagiarism policy), and also with how to work with this new development (chat GPT) that I am opposed to but sadly does not seem to be going anywhere. Reading this made me feel less alone. Appreciate you!
Devon Price shared a quote from this essay and I am so grateful he led me to you. This is a phenomenal exploration of what it is like to take practical steps to be/do better, to rise above tired prejudices disguised as common sense (e.g. children need to be punished and policed in order to learn whats right and wrong and succeed in the world, or that we need to "face reality" instead of foolishly striving for a better world), to meet people where theyre at with grace and humility, to fail in various ways at doing all of the above amid absurd demands on your time and energy and sanity, and then to try again anyway. I'll carry this with me. Thanks!