Overview:
The most meaningful role of educators is not just teaching academic content but inspiring confidence and guiding students toward realizing their potential by supporting them through the challenges they face both inside and outside the classroom.
All educators know there’s far more to teaching than accomplishing the stark outline of a syllabus. In fact, the most important accomplishment is illuminated by an email I received from Logan’s mom after tutoring him in math: “…Logan ended up with a 91 in math!!!! …You changed the course of Logan’s self confidence, drive and most of all his school path.” For teachers, helping students find the path that leads to the best version of themselves is the most important contribution we can make to our students’ development. Perhaps as a surprising connection this outcome is reflected in a 16th century oath taken by French knights initiated into the Order of the Holy Spirit. This part of their oath will surely resonate with educators: “Our paths shine bright because of those who came before us. Will you light the path for others?”
My first experience with lighting the path of a middle school student was in 2003. My day job was in banking and I taught at local colleges in the evening. An opportunity developed to teach a four-week marketing module to graduate pharmacy students. On the first night a mom brought her middle school daughter to class for want of a sitter. Maria sat next to her mom and when Maria finished her homework she focused her attention on me. In response to a question I asked, Maria raised her hand. Calling on her, she gave the right answer and over the remaining three sessions participated on an equal footing with the other students. During the last class I gave her an award for her praiseworthy contributions (Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince).
Reviewing student course evaluations following the last session, one with very neat printing and creative spelling and syntax caught my eye. I’m looking at it now. To the question – What, if anything, was the most important thing you learned from this module? – Maria responded, “I am smart!” Knowing Maria, I knew there was no brag in her answer and how wonderful to play a role in helping Maria come to that conclusion!
Because Maria attended our initial session for lack of a sitter I wondered, Where is her dad? It was the first instance, perhaps because of her age, in which I seriously reflected on a student’s life outside the classroom. In 1961, when I was in 6th grade, my warm and kind-hearted father died. Cancer employs a grim and chilling arithmetic; it always subtracts. I saw Dad become thinner and thinner and knew that his remaining days were fewer and fewer. Of course he knew that far better and more intimately than I did, especially at the end. With a note of awe in her voice, Mom recalled that on the last night, Dad’s usual “See you tomorrow” was replaced by “Goodbye.” The day he died was a school day and Mom must have thought it better to let me come home as usual rather than have someone pick me up early. So, as usual, I made the 10-minute walk from the bus stop to our home. When our house came into view, I saw more than the typical number of cars parked nearby. The cars told me that my father was dead, but offered no condolences. How Dad’s passing affected my school life, or if anyone at school, students or teachers, said anything about it, I don’t recall.
I do know that I’ll never forget the lesson that Josh’s dad taught me, even though I never met him. I had volunteered as a tutor at St Michael-St Clement elementary/middle school following my retirement from banking in 2017, and tutored Josh in middle school. Josh’s performance in math was about average and since this soft-spoken young man willingly tried to improve he qualified as one of my favorite students. After our sessions in the second-floor classroom we’d walk down the steps chatting. Then through the doors and on to a sidewalk bordering the school’s private driveway. It allows parents to drop-off and pick-up their children in greater safety than doing so on the road fronting the school. But Josh’s dad always parked on the street some distance from school, even when the driveway was clear. Finally, I asked Josh about that. Josh nonchalantly replied that his dad didn’t want to be photographed by the security cameras. Funny on one level and disturbing on another. In any event, I was reminded that many factors influencing a child’s ability to learn are well outside my control and that I need to be sensitive to what a student may be dealing with when away from school.
Like Josh, Jason is unique in many respects. He is the only student I’ve known who loves math despite his below-average performance. Jason has some learning issues which are reflected by the accommodation he’s given to use a calculator even in situations in which other students are not allowed to do so. Yet he consistently asks me to show him how to do math without the aid of a calculator. So we work on a problem together, then I give him the same type of problem (long division, for example), but with different numbers. Sadly, given different numbers, he cannot follow the steps from the example, cannot remember how we moved from one step to the next. So, we work through it together and then he asks for another long division problem to solve on his own. Whatever mastery of math that Jason achieves is secondary to his personal development. Will his confidence grow? Will he fully value what I repeatedly compliment him on, his desire to learn and his commitment to achieving that goal?
Recently, Jason expressed regret that I don’t tutor high school math. The good-hearted 8th grader simply said, “I’ll miss you next year.” After talking with his stepmom it became more clear that Jason wasn’t only asking for help with high school math. His more meaningful, unspoken request was reflected in how Logan’s mom believed I helped her son: “You changed the course of Logan’s self confidence, drive and most of all his school path.” More than the specific subject we teach, isn’t that a far greater outcome to help our students achieve? And if we do so, won’t we truly fulfill our unspoken vow to “light the path for others”? And yes, I’ll be tutoring Jason in high school!
