Becoming “Educated”: How to Give Up Control and Gain True Power
I just turned the last page of the book, Educated by Tara Westover, an engrossing read about a girl who struggled with her “homeschooling” by her fundamentalist Mormon family and pursued a formal college education. I was deeply touched by her internal conflict to find herself in the midst of the incessant drone of her upbringing to follow a path of a “righteous” compliant woman who remains ignorant of the world and tolerant of abuse. And, although her story has a backdrop of extremism, there are many parallels that many of us can relate to. Think about this quote for a minute:
“My life was narrated for me by others. Their voices were forceful, emphatic, absolute. It had never occurred to me that my voice might be as strong as theirs.”
― Educated
As I ponder this quote, not only can I see the connection between roles and power in my family dynamics but also in our educational system. Most of us have been brought up by the “Shoulds”, an unrelenting group of people who we have given our power over to. We have been socially engineered, and they influence how we design and navigate our lives. And now, as educators, we are presented with a challenge to create agency in our students, something that many of us never had a direct experience of as a child. This paradigm-shifting requires a deep examination of our beliefs about education and what it means to be “educated”.
One of the turning points for Tara Westover was when she read Isiah Berlin’s essays about Positive and Negative Liberty, in which she came to recognize that personal freedom and political freedom are interwoven. And when I say political freedom, I am not talking about Democrats vs. Republicans or Labour vs. Conservative parties, it is broader than that: the ability to choose and exercise one’s values and beliefs in society.
To coerce a man is to deprive him of freedom–freedom from what? Almost every moralist in human history has praised freedom. Like happiness and goodness, like nature and reality, the meaning of this term is so porous that there is little interpretation that it seems able to resist…… Men are largely interdependent, and no man’s activity is so completely private as never to obstruct the lives of others in anyway. `Freedom for the pike is death for the minnows’; the liberty of some must depend on the restraint of others. Two Concepts of Liberty, Isiah Berlin
As we move further away from our “totalitarian approach” of teacher-directed learning and transition into more student-led learning, it may appear that our role as a teacher is becoming irrelevant. That ‘Freedom for the pike is death to the minnows’, in which empowering students to be self-directed diminishes the need for teachers altogether, especially with the technology that is out there. But I disagree. As we provide for more opportunities for students to determine where the content takes them in their learning journey, our true power lies in the craft of empowering them to manage themselves wisely. So, on the surface, it looks like we are giving up control, but in actuality, when we are eliciting more student voice, choice, and ownership, we are amplifying our influence and consequently we need to develop more skillfulness in the practices that shape and promote agency:
- Fostering aspiration. Cultivating a vision that is orientated in inspiring others to follow their interests and solve problems that seem impossible.
- Reflective Conversation. Having discussions that lead students to think deeper, beyond the “what” and more about the “why”.
- Feedback. Appreciating that there are levels of quality and students understand where they stand in order to feel empowered to take the next step.
- Seeing Systems. Developing the classroom as a living system so that they recognize what they are teaching each other. And then what is the awareness of the larger context in which we’re operating in beyond our classroom?
- Actions Matter. Reminding them that you always have a choice; even inaction is an action–a choice to do nothing is still something, so make better choices.
I think all of us can agree that in the midst of our shifting paradigm in education, our knowledge of content is less important and instead, our knowledge of our craft is more highly valued. When I think about professional development for educators, there are 3 things that we have to get particularly good at: Motivation, Feedback, and Awareness.
I think honing our ability to motivate students is a necessary component of our craft. The focus of “classroom management” is becoming less to do with bending the children to our will but more about helping them to sustain their learning through practical and organized systems in our classroom. No more “I’m done” because they appreciate that there is another step along their learning path to take.
Hence, developing real acumen with giving timely and effective feedback is another area for developing expertise. Knowing when to say less yet ask more can be a real talent. Using the ancient wisdom of Socrates to dig deep with questioning is an art of revealing understandings and misconceptions to truly coach students to their next level. Needless to say, teaching students how to engage in this process with each other is just as vital. When we recognize the relational quality of learning, it goes without saying that conversations matter and students need to learn how to communicate ideas and opinions thoughtfully.
So it goes to reason, self-awareness and social-awareness are the driving forces that make education worth pursuing. When we come into an understanding of our own beliefs and behaviors and take action on them for the betterment of our world, that is truly a life worth living. Creating self-mastery involves appreciating the recesses of our minds and the caverns of our heart, and recognizing the consequence it may have on others is another layer of complexity that is worth learning. Now the “why” can be extending into the “how”, creating a meaningful impact on our relationships and communities. To foster this is a great honor that is bestowed upon us as educators. We should not take this lightly and should endeavor to become proficient in it. Though, of all the areas of our craft, this might be the hardest one to master, since it requires an equal amount of our own personal development as it does professional development. As the saying goes, “You can’t teach what you don’t know.” So we are standing elbow to elbow, right along with our students, as we become masters of our own emotion and influence.
To that end, we now must consider what it means to be a teacher, a true leader of learning, a role model of curiosity and open-mindedness. As our roles change, we gain insight and clarity into the value and purpose of education. We no longer need to stand with clenched fists but instead open palms in order to evolve our notions of learning and expand our reach of the classroom. In giving power to the voice of children, may we find our own in the process.
Developing learners as leaders is my joy! I am committed and passionate International Baccaluearate (IB) educator who loves cracking jokes, jumping on trampolines and reading books. When I’m not playing Minecraft with my daughter, I work on empowering others in order to create a future that works for everyone.
But this IS learning. Learning isn’t just about acquiring knowledge and skills. It’s about becoming a better version of ourselves. Me 2.0 It’s about surprising ourselves with what we can do. It’s about connecting and collaborating with others with purpose and passion. And most importantly, it’s about growing ourselves emotionally so we can be mature, sensitive and happy human beings. One of my friends, 
Although his battle cry of existential was influential and thought-provoking-it has yet to truly realize its potential for disrupting the status quo, but it seems that technology indeed has the capacity to transform many long-held beliefs and practices. Like it or not, we MUST change. The pick-ax has been replaced by the smartphone, in which our hands are no longer as useful as our minds. Nowadays our “
Of course, if we were looking at this through the lens of 
think these are the foundational pieces (Time, Content and Assessment) that create “bad faith” in our schools. Although I have ruminated a bit on these topics in this post, I have hardly dug deep into how we can transform them. I believe that is the business of EVERYONE to do in their unique educational settings. Maybe, as teachers, we start with Content, thinking about how we might “rock the boat”. And as leaders, we need to examine the other elements of Time and Assessment and start to challenge our dogmatic approaches.
So what do you do to bring out the best in teachers and colleagues? How do you instill trust and confidence in them? And how do you connect with them when you have something difficult to share? Do others solicit your advice for improvement or turn to others for help? Or do you have closed doors and closed minds?
Moreover, my daughter, like so many of children her age, are now encountering the 
I find it an interesting word choice by the IB in its re-branding effort. So their call to “enhance” our Primary Years Programme has got me lingering on what it is that we want to elevate in the learning experience. Visually, “Agency” has now become the symbolic heart of the PYP’s graphic. I think many educators are painting a picture of what that can look like in our classrooms; the blog called 
Let me explain a bit: recently I sat down with a Grade 11 student to explain how gene therapy works for her Personal Project on cancer treatments (Previous to teaching, I aspired to get my Ph.D. in Genetics and conducted gene therapy research). But as I was chatting with her, discussing the biological mechanism of the treatment strategies, I really wanted to pull out some literature on 
These questions aren’t answered in a 2-hour meeting, they are inquired into over time, in an institutional self-study, and requires getting teachers voice, choice, and ownership in initiatives. So often lofty goals subtract the perspective of teachers, who are the ones held accountable to many of the suggested changes. Pedagogical leaders choose efficiency over effectiveness, and often side-step the very educators who are laying the foundation of change in their learning institutions. Including teachers in all of these conversations, from the initial inquiry into “What is school?” is not only what is best practice when it comes to leadership, but it is critical to buy-in and sustainable transformation. I can’t help but reiterate this, simply because innovation doesn’t happen in closed-door meetings, it’s a community-driven mission, and it requires all stakeholders. I’ll stop my preaching here, but schools need a collaborative approach to cultivating lasting change that has a true impact on our students.