In which I change the class, starting with me. By Paul Carver

In the middle of the second year of my class, I realized that something was wrong.  The students were disengaged, the work that was being done lacked merit and focus, and I was spending more time nervous about what would happen next then preparing to  celebrate the great things that would happen next.  

By that time, I’d pretty much exhausted my repertoire of things to try.  I’d gone from trying logical, to creative, to desperate solutions to find the magic bullet, or at least a stopper to plug the holes in what was quickly becoming a sinking ship.  Then as chance, or divine intervention would have it.  I met a parent who threw me a lifeline that ended up being more like a cruise liner, or maybe a chain of cruise liners.  This parent happened to be the Director of M.Ed. at McPherson College, Dr. Mark Malaby.  After talking for an hour at a routine function at our school, we scheduled another time to meet.  

At this meeting, he pretty much destroyed my class with a few simple questions.  Namely, “what is your philosophy” and “what is the point of this class”.  

Before the cringing starts too much, this wasn’t a parent interaction where the parent throws out deeply philosophical and personal questions meant to attack and tear down the teacher to gain the high ground.   This was a probing question meant to form a starting point which would later lead to great discussions, discover, and a new curriculum.  

After a few minutes of me blustering generic, collegiate answers, him smiling and waiting until I had finished, he asked what I really felt.  It was then that I realized that, while deep down I had a philosophy, I hadn’t developed one in a tangible way.  Something that truly guides you when you’re making plans, defending choices, and interacting with those you come in contact with.  

Over the next few weeks, I meditated on what I believed, who I wanted to be, and what I wanted others to see in me.  I came up with the following 3 hierarchical stages, or “laws of the teacher” that are my core values.  If you’re familiar with Isaac Asimov’s Laws of Robotics, my 3 Laws of the Teacher are similarly structured.

They are:

1. The students’ lives come first

2.  Meet curricular goals

2.  Be a good colleague

Like the Laws of Robotics, the first rule must take precedence. The second rule must be followed unless it conflicts with the first, and the third takes place pending it doesn’t conflict with the first or second law.  This ensures the class is centered on the students, not on me, the teacher. After all, we are here for the students, not the other way around.