The best educators lean into this cognitive dissonance that’s built into how they work with their students.
- My thing is the most important thing that my students are doing.
- My thing is not the most important thing that my students are doing.
#1 is essential to good teaching. Unless you are passionate about both the subject matter and the value of the subject matter, you will have a hard time convincing students to engage with it.
#2 is just as essential, though in my experience easy to overlook. It is our duty as educators to respect that students have many diverse interested and demands on their time. If we become megalomaniacal in our belief that #1 is true, we seriously risk hurting our students’ ability to experience the full range of their educational experience.
Here’s my philosophy: when you’re in the room with your students, believe without question that what you’re teaching is the most important thing in the world. And when they leave the room, work as hard as you can to make sure they can explore, prioritize, and learn with autonomy.