There exists one word that has nagged at me and puked on me and molested me and ripped my intestines apart for the last 2 and half years and it's about time I crumple it, actually POUND it into a nasty, ugly ball and catapult it into the pits of destruction. I loathe this word. It's, just, nasty.
What's this no-good, very bad, awfully rotten word?
ENGAGE.
Boom. I said it. ENGAGE.
If you are a teacher, you've heard this word non-stop since the dawn of time, and if you're anything like me, you're tired of hearing it. Maybe you're not like me, or maybe you're not a teacher, so you don't fully comprehend my distaste for this word. So let me explain.
When educators begin the school year in professional development trainings, administrators nail the word engage into every stream of conversation. "Engaging students will raise test scores; students who are engaged are more likely to absorb and regurgitate concepts; engaging students must be a part of your lesson plan; if your students aren't engaged, then you're not doing what we asked you to do; an engaged classroom looks like blah blah blah; engage this; engage that; engage in every knick and knack." It's every day, every training, every reading. And when classes start, it's in every email. And when evaluations are submitted, it's in every rating. When observations come around, it's the focal point.
Don't get me wrong, I want students to learn. I want them to be involved in that learning. But at the end of the day when my professional career is held under the microscope, my ratings come down to the response of the students to my teaching, (their behavior and boredom levels) and not how I actually performed as an educator.
What does that mean? After all the studying, the rigorous language training, the classes, the papers, the 5 hour tests, the deadlines, the graduations, the study abroad trips, the lesson planning, the after hours hustling, the grading, the emailing, the contacting, the mentoring, ultimately my students are going to make my grade. They are going to determine if I get to keep my job or not.
Here's why that word just stinks. Because at the end of the day, engagement only happens genuinely and perpetually for practical purposes. Students are only going to care as much as they see their futures in a subject and the value of that subject to who they can be. I enjoy algebra because it helps me handle my home finances. But I abhor biology and chemistry and rarely use those subjects for my growth today. So I did not pursue those studies. I love the way reading novels births new ideas and mindsets, and so I planted myself in a plethora of English classes in school. What did I not spend time studying? Computer programming. Nope. Don't want it. And I'm doing great without it.
So when I compare teaching Spanish to high schoolers who have no say in the matter to teaching Spanish to motivated adults at church, it's like asking myself if I prefer carrots or ice cream. I do believe in education, and I do believe that I am giving my absolute best to try to empower my students to set forth an amazing pathway for their futures, but I cannot succumb to the goal of engagement. Engagement is not a trustworthy goal. It's not even obtainable. So this begs the question: at what point do we allow students to begin learning and studying interests for future and practical use? As Christians, at what point to we allow younger generations to pursue studies that bring forth the most glory to God, even if it means forsaking the normal pathway to education?
That's a huge question. One to be reckoned with and wrestled with and discussed and mulled over. And at what point do I, as a Christian educator, decide whether it's worth it or not to teach Spanish to students who will never use the language, in comparison to teaching Spanish to those who will use the language to perpetuate the gospel?
I believe that now, in this time and season, that I am where God has called me to be. And I am grateful that He is pressing me to dig deeply in the eternal perspective of my career. So whether you teach or fix things or serve or calculate or whatever you might do, always make sure you wrestle with the eternal weight of your profession and strive to engage souls for the kingdom and the glory of God.
What's this no-good, very bad, awfully rotten word?
ENGAGE.
Boom. I said it. ENGAGE.
If you are a teacher, you've heard this word non-stop since the dawn of time, and if you're anything like me, you're tired of hearing it. Maybe you're not like me, or maybe you're not a teacher, so you don't fully comprehend my distaste for this word. So let me explain.
When educators begin the school year in professional development trainings, administrators nail the word engage into every stream of conversation. "Engaging students will raise test scores; students who are engaged are more likely to absorb and regurgitate concepts; engaging students must be a part of your lesson plan; if your students aren't engaged, then you're not doing what we asked you to do; an engaged classroom looks like blah blah blah; engage this; engage that; engage in every knick and knack." It's every day, every training, every reading. And when classes start, it's in every email. And when evaluations are submitted, it's in every rating. When observations come around, it's the focal point.
Don't get me wrong, I want students to learn. I want them to be involved in that learning. But at the end of the day when my professional career is held under the microscope, my ratings come down to the response of the students to my teaching, (their behavior and boredom levels) and not how I actually performed as an educator.
What does that mean? After all the studying, the rigorous language training, the classes, the papers, the 5 hour tests, the deadlines, the graduations, the study abroad trips, the lesson planning, the after hours hustling, the grading, the emailing, the contacting, the mentoring, ultimately my students are going to make my grade. They are going to determine if I get to keep my job or not.
Here's why that word just stinks. Because at the end of the day, engagement only happens genuinely and perpetually for practical purposes. Students are only going to care as much as they see their futures in a subject and the value of that subject to who they can be. I enjoy algebra because it helps me handle my home finances. But I abhor biology and chemistry and rarely use those subjects for my growth today. So I did not pursue those studies. I love the way reading novels births new ideas and mindsets, and so I planted myself in a plethora of English classes in school. What did I not spend time studying? Computer programming. Nope. Don't want it. And I'm doing great without it.
So when I compare teaching Spanish to high schoolers who have no say in the matter to teaching Spanish to motivated adults at church, it's like asking myself if I prefer carrots or ice cream. I do believe in education, and I do believe that I am giving my absolute best to try to empower my students to set forth an amazing pathway for their futures, but I cannot succumb to the goal of engagement. Engagement is not a trustworthy goal. It's not even obtainable. So this begs the question: at what point do we allow students to begin learning and studying interests for future and practical use? As Christians, at what point to we allow younger generations to pursue studies that bring forth the most glory to God, even if it means forsaking the normal pathway to education?
That's a huge question. One to be reckoned with and wrestled with and discussed and mulled over. And at what point do I, as a Christian educator, decide whether it's worth it or not to teach Spanish to students who will never use the language, in comparison to teaching Spanish to those who will use the language to perpetuate the gospel?
I believe that now, in this time and season, that I am where God has called me to be. And I am grateful that He is pressing me to dig deeply in the eternal perspective of my career. So whether you teach or fix things or serve or calculate or whatever you might do, always make sure you wrestle with the eternal weight of your profession and strive to engage souls for the kingdom and the glory of God.