Teaching Inspiration from Fred Rodgers

Fred Rodgers has always been someone I admire.  He has been on my mind lately as I think of my students. 

"As human beings, our job in life is to help people realize how rare and valuable each one of us really is, that each of us has something that no one else has--or ever will have--something inside that is unique to all time. It's our job to encourage each other to discover that uniqueness and to provide ways of developing its expression." -Fred Rogers

Many of my students come to me with feelings of low self-worth, because they have struggled in school. They feel their value is based not on who they are, but what they know. 

But who can really "grade" a child's worth, or indeed the worth of anyone else? Why are academics a competition? When can we stop drilling and testing? When can we return childhood to its proper place where children feel wonder at our world and not an obligation to learn everything there is to know about it?

I was reading a book with a student a while ago, and came across this passage from Jamie Lee Curtis:

"Different means nobody is ever the same. 

All bodies are different and so are all brains. 

Different is what makes this world so great. 

Different is never something to hate."

I am not stating that education is without worth. Far from it--I feel that teachers are the gardeners responsible for tilling the soil around our children, nurturing and sustaining this wonder and respect for our differences.

So in a time, where we seem to categorize, compete, and cower from our differences, I simply suggest that we take a step back as educators and take stock of our gardens, reminding ourselves that each bloom under our care is truly unique to all time and is deserving of our love.