Many years ago I ran across the quote that sits in the upper right-hand corner of this page:  “Education is either to calm the disturbed or disturb the calm.”  I honestly can’t remember who said that, but it stuck with me because I had to think about it for awhile before I decided that it was the truth.  I have shared that quote with every one of my students over the past 20 years, and I often ask them to write a journal entry to let me know how they see themselves as students:  calm or disturbed.

I believe it is my job as a teacher to disturb the calm.  These are students who get through school literally by the seat of their pants – they sit in desks, turn in whatever work is required, and leave with a grade.  If I ask them to copy out the index of a textbook by hand, they’ll be annoyed, but they’ll do it.  Many of them are considered to be “good” students because they never give their teachers any trouble, turn in their homework on time, and earn decent grades.  They think it’s impolite to ask, “What’s the point?” in the middle of a lesson.  My job is to shake them up a little, get them to question the ideas we discuss, and to be able to explain clearly why we are spending time in class reading, writing, and thinking about the course objectives.  Many enter my class with opinions about certain social or political ideas; however, they often cannot offer specific arguments to back up their opinions, or, even worse, they’ll adopt my opinion because I’m their teacher.  I want to help them become active learners – seekers of wisdom and truth.

It’s also my job to calm the disturbed.  Every year I meet students who are plagued by what I call “noisy minds.”  These are often highly intelligent individuals who think too much.  Sometimes they’re angry about situations beyond their control at home; sometimes they’re fighting (or defeated) by addictions; sometimes they are being driven crazy by the thoughts that swirl endlessly in their heads.  I try to help them discover something worth reading or something worth writing about that will distract them enough to give them periods of peace.  I want them to understand that these are tools they can use whenever they feel their thoughts spinning out of control.

Teaching is about so much more than disseminating information.  Often it’s about either creating or clearing away the agitation so that something of value can be learned.