Don't Good Teachers Empower Children?

It certainly seems true that a good teacher would empower children. That is the reason there is so much fussing and fuming about teachers who lack this power, and arguments over whether they should leave the profession to make way for those who have it. But no one teacher will have the magic to enthuse all children. That is the pipe dream that the Chicago Board of Education clings to. The reality of the situation is what keeps teachers' unions on their feet and fighting. Most teachers have chosen the profession because they like children and believe that they can help them learn. Of those who choose to be teachers because they thought teaching would be easy, very few last more than a year or two. So although perhaps there are a few who should go seek other professions, this pogrom to remove teachers who are less than charismatic is unfair to the profession and the children it is trying to serve.

Maybe we should look at the nature of empowerment. Certainly the ability to read should empower a child. And the ability to write. The ability to manipulate numbers can open the door to our monetary system. Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic, the three R's from long ago, are still what we lean on for a child's firm foundation. And yet, there is something we have been missing: the secret of empowerment lies not in the teacher, but in the child. It begins with his curiosity and continues with his freedom to investigate, to probe, to wonder and to learn. A teacher who is expert in instruction may be valued highly by her profession, but the child who initiates his own queries is the only child really empowered by his learning--because he has grasped the secret: the only real learning comes from within. Self initiated learning opens doors into rainbows of possibilities. Yes, teachers can train children to do things, but children who know how to initiate their own education will find lives that follow paths their teachers have never dreamed of.

Montessori education empowers children by freeing them to choose and to investigate. Traditional education informs a child, then tells him what to do with that information. Is it any wonder that half the male students who begin as freshman at Roberto Clemente, in my Chicago neighborhood, never stay to graduate? They say, "School? Jail? What's the difference?"

Empowerment

http://www.hulu.com/watch/182715/saturday-night-live-what-up-with-that-morgan-freeman?c=0:272

On this October 2nd Saturday Night Live segment after the commercial (sorry about that) you will hear some serious comments on what is needed in today's public schools. These suggestions come from Morgan Freeman. That they were surprisingly accurate was remarkable enough, but it was the host's reaction that grabbed my attention. His dumbfounded stare before he glossed over Freeman's answers was typical of public educators today--like the words were uttered in some unintelligible language, the ideas they embody completely foreign. Just watch the discouraged expressions on Morgan Freeman's face as he tries to suggest two real improvements for our public education system.

Montessori education empowers children like no other, even beyond the empowerment Morgan Freeman is referring to. Besides love, there is no greater gift we can give our children.