Round peg in round hole

This time last year, I was feeling restless, because I did not believe in what I was doing anymore. No matter how hard I tried to make learning meaningful for students, I just kept on hitting a brick wall. I was putting so much effort on my end by designing solid lessons, bringing in the experts and allowing students to have more choice in their own learning, yet it still felt somewhat contrived.

I was slowly starting to become disillusioned by it all, because I knew, deep down, that I had been foolishly trying to fit the square peg in the round whole.

And now, as I look back at last year, I can see things more clearly. Back then, I'd say that we couldn't create meaningful work in 90 minutes of class with only the internet as a resource; I couldn't provide meaningful feedback to 90 students; students couldn't juggle multiple projects. Yet, while these were all valid issues, I still did not understand the mother of all problems: students were not buying into those projects because they did not own them; I owned those projects, and the weight was starting to crush me. 

But then the IA came along,  and it all starting to fall into place. Don't get me wrong, this job is challenging; never have I felt this accountable before. Creating a professional magazine that will be judged by a real audience can be daunting. But no matter, how stressful things get, I know that this time I'm not carrying that burden of the project on my own because there are 22 students who have their hearts set on this project and are ready to shoulder responsibility. 

These students own this project because the've had a say in it; when I pitched it to them, we took a whole hour to look at the pros and the cons, we took other options into consideration, and most importantly, we did not make the decision until everybody gave their thumbs up. It took a lot of negotiating from the students' side, but they knew that their voices were being heard.

I guess it all really hit me last Friday; some IA students had gathered to discuss their current class project and out of the blue, Nicolas came up with an idea for the next project: why not start our own food business in the next semester and sell maki's at school? Deep down, I feel that we're not yet ready for such an undertaking; however, I noticed that while I was feeling doubtful about this idea, I wasn't dismissing it either; instead, I kept on listening to Nicolas.  And this was my great epiphany: in my head, Nicolas wasn't the student addressing the teacher anymore; instead, in that moment, he was my colleague, we were equal and his ideas mattered as much as mine.  

What I love most about my Grade 10 cohort is that we're not really a class anymore; we're an organization. We all have our different roles that we want to fulfill at the best of our ability, because we share a common purpose. After all, when you have their buy-in, learning will become an organic outcome.  

In education, we've invested our time and resources creating traditional homogenous classes, because of our ingrained belief that this would be conducive to learning. And here's the irony: it's only by knocking down that very system that you can see deeper learning happen.

The courage to be vulnerable: An open letter to the 2017 IA cohort

Dear 2017 innovators, 

These last days, I've been doing some reflecting on our progress as a cohort and, yes, it's been a learning curve. You guys have been faced with a lot of novelty; yet you were able to come out of your comfort zone and try out new things, the crowd-sourcing of grades being only one of them.  

However, our cohort is only 2 months old, and I'm sure that you'd agree with me that being such a young group, we still need to work on the aspect of trust. In one of our class discussions, Nickle, wisely stated that it takes time for a group of people to have deep trust in one another. And I couldn't agree more. Yet we need to start asking ourselves, what does it take to achieve deep trust within a group over time? 

Last week, I listened to a student face the rest of his peers and open-up about his progress as a learner. Like us, the IA junior class had been crowd-sourcing grades for the whole week.

I could sense the discomfort, as he sought for the right words to explain the why’s of his actions.  In the meantime, the others listened to him attentively; you could hear the drop of a needle. The words slowly started to flow and so did the tears, but the uneasiness quickly morphed into relief as it all came out. His bad habits, his fears, his desires. The moment felt so genuine; it was as if he was finally able to articulate what had been troubling him for so long.   

The fact is that most probably he would have never opened-up in this way had he not been challenged by his friends. His peers' feedback had been blunt and straightforward. Many grown-ups  would have struggled in their place; however something powerful takes place when when we are given the opportunity to see ourselves through the eyes of others: we get perspective. 

So why am I sharing this anecdote with you? Going back to fostering a culture of trust, it all starts with us holding ourselves accountable for collective growth. It’s the idea of caring so much about the others that you’re willing to have a brutally honest conversation with them, no matter how uncomfortable it might be, so that they can be challenged to grow. Because as Barreto put it, if one person grows, then the whole group will. 

But if we want to be able to have these genuine conversations, we must first be willing to be vulnerable. We unwittingly mistake vulnerability for weakness; if anything, it takes a lot of courage to be vulnerable.  

Going back to the Grade 11 crowd-sourcing anecdote, he opened up because he chose to trust. It was trust that helped him let the other people in, allowing them to catch a glimpse of his fears, his insecurities and his aspirations. His vulnerability allowed him to strip down all the protective gear and simply be himself. By being authentic, he put others in the condition to empathize with him.  And when that happens, deep bonds are formed.

So, if you want to understand yourselves and bring value to the world, you'll need to be self-aware and reflective. This will require that you take a leap of faith and seek for opportunities where you can open-up to your peers and be vulnerable in front of them, because the insight it brings is invaluable. 

Yes it takes time to build trust, but it will also take a lot of courage from each and every single one of you.