Light a Fire

With nearly 38 years in multiple educational environments, I have had time to reflect on the teaching profession from a variety of perspectives. One of my favorite quotes comes from the Irish poet William Butler Yeats:

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”

If teaching was just passing on a predetermined collection of content, we would probably still be looking for Zeus and Juno on a flat earth thinking that the universe is revolving around us. So, we know that education is more than dumping knowledge into students’ heads. Authentic, meaningful education is a process by which each of us discovers who we are. Over the generations, great educators have helped equip students to be critical thinkers, problem solvers, relationship builders, creative artists, and challengers of the status quo. Effective teachers approach their classrooms with a humble spirit, knowing that any one of us has only touched the edge of the infinite possibilities. From this mindset, they focus on helping their students find their unique strengths and talents so that this next generation can contribute to the expansion of knowledge and wisdom for those that follow them.

Ultimately, education is more about inspiration, less about compliance. Yes, we need to have structures, laws, and guidelines that support a civil society. However, if we lose sight of why we teach children, we risk creating prison-like factories that spit out robots. Our goal is not for students to pass tests; it is for our children to reach their full potential as thoughtful, compassionate, generous adults.