Kim, I could not agree more with what you write about teachers stepping outside of their areas of comfort. This same fear can also be manifested in college teachers as well. Aa a university instructor, I try to keep abreast of technological changes, but as I try to also remain current in my two fields of study, I often find that technological pursuits take a back seat to academic interests. While this lack of technical knowledge is not intentional, I often find that I do tend to let this area of my professional development slack a little as I need to sleep occasionally. However, I have come to realize too that I will find students who do possess technical expertise that I do not have. I have to be okay with acknowledging their excellence. Probably the hardest skill I had to acquire as a teacher was the ability to say, "I do not know, but I will try to find out for you." Or, "Why don't you explain it to us."
Fear is very much alive in the classroom. While teachers' fears are certainly understandable, collaboration with others in the same group should help alleviate those fears. As a doctoral student. I entered the program very much afraid of what I did not know. However, I soon realized that others did not know some things either. We will all continue to learn throughout our lives, at least hopefully.
Comments (1)
There's something to be said for acknowledging the unknown. It's impossible to know everything, so the unknown will always be present. Television and movie scripts have us trained to expect a neat, happy ending, or at least an ENDING, in everything we do. Of course...I'm probably one of the worst happily-ever-after, fairy-tale junkies there is! (Although I think there's something to be said for that too -- another time.) I struggle with the not-knowing just like everyone else.
I see life as one big ongoing event, not a series of finite moments of time. Sometimes there is not an available answer, or a neat, tie-up-all-the-loose-ends conclusion. Maybe the next scene hasn't been written yet, or maybe someone else is writing it. We get lost in the transitions. Often those seem to be the most challenging parts of life.
Learning to make peace with not-knowing is embracing what it means to be human. We expressive arts therapists like to say, "It's all about the process, not the product." Isn't that what matters most?
Posted by marisa | July 1, 2009 4:15 PM
Posted on July 1, 2009 16:15