“There is no system in the
world, or any school in the country, that’s better than its teachers. Teachers
are the lifeblood of the success of schools. But teaching is a creative
profession. Teaching, properly conceived, is not a delivery system. … What great teachers also do is mentor, stimulate, provoke, engage. In the end, education is about learning. If there's no learning going on, there's no education going on. … The whole point of education is to get people to
learn....” (Ken Robinson, TED talk “How to Escape Education’s Death
Valley.” www.ted.com)
All of us have been both
teachers and students. Most of us have been professional students for a good
part of our lives. We have gone to school longer than most people have held
their jobs. We know how to be a student. And so we also have a pretty fair
grasp of what it means to be educated, a notion and reality that is likely to
grow with age and wisdom, although not without some sense of irony. "Without education, we are in a horrible
and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously." (G K
Chesterton)
The idea that teachers are key
to any school is something that is too obvious to be noticed. Like the
advantage of having an opposable thumb, or the fact that our eyes work so well
with our brain, or the reality that things like faith, hope, and love are part
of being human, it’s one of those facts of our existence that is as comfortably
taken for granted as the clothing we wear. The founder of the Brothers,
however, started this entire Lasallian movement by not taking teaching for granted, but rather building his
schools on the trust, community, spirit, enthusiasm, talents, and aspirations
of those young men in 17th Century France who believed that education could transform lives. Ever since, every school that claims John Baptist de La Salle as its inspiration and guide has discovered the truth and power of the key insight that good teachers bring learning to life in young people.
Ken Robinson in his talk also
shares contemporary insights that De La Salle would recognize. For example, Sir
Robinson says that high-performance school systems “individualize teaching and learning. They recognize that it’s students who are learning and the system has to engage them, their curiosity, their individuality and their creativity.” De La Salle said
300 years ago that teaching involves “knowing
each individually and discerning the right way to guide them.” He advocated the use of visual
instruction, the incorporation of skits, dialogues, or songs to help children
capture moral lessons, and included training in practical arts such as
needlework, keeping accounts, and life skills. Good manners were also instilled
as a necessary part to Christian upbringing.
Sir Robinson states that high-performance schools “attribute a
very high statue to the teaching profession. They recognize that you can't improve education if you don't pick great people to teach and if you don't keep giving them constant support and professional development.” De La Salle believed the same, telling his teachers that they followed in the footsteps of the apostles, given the gift of
instruction, exhortation, and teaching. (M 78.2, 145.3, 193.2) Such "great
graces from God" entail a grave responsibility. "It is God himself
who has led them to you; it is God who makes you responsible for their
salvation [Heb.13: 17].” Professional development in the ministry of teaching
was equated with personal development in the journey of following God. De La
Salle and the early Brothers are credited with initiating the movement for
“normal schools” that trained teachers, having done so for non-Brothers and
Brothers alike during his lifetime and far beyond.
The point is
simple: Great learning depends on great teachers, and this has always been the
case, whether in the 17th century or in the 21st century.
The deeper realities persist about teaching and learning. Through great
teachers, students have the opportunity to discover glimpses of the Promised
Land and to be drawn in by the numinous mystery of God’s presence within
themselves and within the people and the worlds that they encounter.
What a wonderful
responsibility, mysterious adventure, and great vocation!
