In Middle School, each class was supposed to take turns leading the school assembly (the morning presentation that included a theme based speech, a song, and the day’s news). It was a big thing to be selected from a class of 60 to speak the news — a part given only to students considered to be the ‘best speakers’ in class and who could be trusted to do the work of suitably selecting and copying headlines from the day’s newspaper. I was overjoyed to be selected for this role in Grade 6 for the first time. My teacher told me a week in advance that I would be delivering the news for one of the days. I was so excited and also nervous and as soon as I got back home, I picked up that day’s paper (probably for the first time in a while) to practice speaking the headlines. The biggest headline on the page had something to do with the inauguration/some deal related to the Airbus ‘A320’. I can’t remember the particulars of the story but the aircraft model has always stayed with me since then. I was fascinated by this new airplane model. Every time I practiced, I would say that one news headline. If you looked at my face while practicing this news, you could see that I got a kick out of reading this headline every time. I was so fascinated by this topic and yet it never once occurred to me to go up to any one of my teachers in school to ask about the A320 or the deal/inauguration. Never once did I think that I should ask my teachers how I could learn more about this. In fact, I don’t think I ever had an actual conversation with my teachers about any of my interests or things that I found fascinating. And I don’t mean this in a way of laying any blame on my teachers. I loved my teachers for the most part and they were wonderful in the role that teachers were supposed to play in my school. It’s just that this role did not really incorporate or indeed create space for teacher-student conversation.
I do recall discussing this with my father though, telling him that this news was so ‘fun’. Being an aviation enthusiast, he was so happy to hear my interest in the A320. I felt so proud! We spent the next few days talking about all things airplanes, and it became a common bonding point for us to watch Nat Geo shows on aircrafts, airports, even aircrash investigations. Who knew that sharing my fascination with one headline could have blossomed into this! And through this process my understanding about the A320 changed so much. From being fascinated by this seemingly mysterious thing to wondering why this headline had taken up the most space on the cover page of the newspaper — it was certainly a journey.
And this makes me wonder, what new relationships or explorations could have blossomed had I thought that I could tell my teachers about this. Or have a group of peers who might be interested in the same topic to talk with and explore this further. What an education that would’ve been! And even more, how much more confidence and agency might I have gained in my own learning.
I’m not sure if this classifies as something that falls within the realms of teaching or if it translates over into mentorship. However this gets classified, I do believe that this is the strongest way of engaging people in their learning — the defining word being ‘their’ in this sentence. Because after all, it is a person’s own learning — shouldn’t they have some sense of ownership over it? Shouldn’t they be fascinated by how much they can learn about a subject and how their perspectives can change. And isn’t that the point of education? I would say in our current times, but really in all times? That we learn that we can be fascinated by different subjects, that we can find people who are equally fascinated by these subjects, that we can explore and learn and recognize what our perspectives were and what they have turned into and that they can change again? The dream of becoming and nurturing ‘lifelong learners’.
I am extremely privileged to have experienced this teaching and mentorship at home and now in the classroom and my work at HGSE. As fate would have it, I found this special teacher-student conversation last year in my HGSE class titled ‘A320’ with Linda Nathan. I found a space where my fascination with different topics, whether they seemed to be directly related to the assigned work or not, was not just welcomed but highly encouraged. Teacher-student conversation was an essential part of the conversation. And this relationship evolved and strengthened as I transitioned to working with Linda, knowing I had a space where I could always share things I was curious about.
Just this month, as I watched the Netflix docu-drama — Alexander the Great, I was, like many of us might have been, fascinated by Alexander and this period in time. And this time, I had a teacher that I could go up to and say that I found this fascinating, how do I learn more about this? This teacher being Marshall Ganz who I’ve seen actively and deliberately make space for conversations that allow him and his students to share their stories, and their interests. And not surprisingly, he had multiple recommendations for how I could learn more about this, and this has become an exciting learning adventure and a special bonding factor.
Finding a teacher who sees themselves as a lifelong learner and who houses a genuine curiosity for their students and who they are as full people, that seems to be the foundation of an education that I have come to aspire for – for myself and for my community.
