Educated to Death

0065: Institutions Fail, but People Persist, so must I (refocus)

#edchat #teaching #occupy

I spend too much time pissing and moaning about a broken system. Yes, the education system is dysfunctional, inequitable, and unfair, but, and I forget this, teachers are still teachers. We work daily to do our best to produce a critical citizenry. We, the teachers, interact with our students with varying degrees of success (day to day). My cynicism need not destroy my love of teaching and of my students. The system is broken, but that is the case with many institutions. Patients get sick and are treated by doctors (accessibility varies) regardless of the myriad problems within the healthcare system.

Institutions are failing, but people do not have to. I need constant reminding of this fact, lest I choose to wither and dry up. I am a teacher because I believe in the humans with whom I get to share this space. I believe everyone should have access to a quality education, that is, they should get a chance to learn and think, and be permitted to know that they have power within themselves. I teach creators, innovators, and disruptors who aren’t always privy to that self-knowledge. My purpose is to help them unlock that understanding themselves. So, rather than pissing and moaning I need to refocus my writing. I need to focus on action taken to progress my students. I need to focus on the critical discussions we have, the dialogues between other educators and myself. I need to look at the people around me for awhile, rather than the whole system. Institutions fail, but people persist. We are not defined by the systems we work within. We are humans. We have voices, and we are heard together. Not as members of systems, but as the voice of humanity