Why do we educate?

With the end of another school year approaching, we’ve been thinking a lot about our line of work. What does it mean, in this day and age, to be an educator? It makes us wonder: what did it mean, ever, to be an educator? Has it all really changed that much over the past century or so? The past millennium?

Spend a few days in a classroom and it is easy to lose sight of what Dewey said above. As teachers are asked to do more and more, often that can mean less and less focus on learning about life, or learning for life. On the best of days, we can close the classroom door and really get kids to dig into figuring out who they are, where they stand in this world, and what they are going to do with their passions and abilities.

We are offered a front row ticket to this incredible spectacle. It can be terrifying and nerve racking if you really sit back a moment and think about it. An educator’s responsibility and influence can be momentous, even life altering, although we might be too humble to admit it. And for that we get paid the big bucks.

But really — when it comes down to it — what is an educator’s goal? It is to give kids the tools to be engaged, compassionate and energetic people on this planet? When we watch a news story about a tragedy that occurred nearby, or when a death or illness or threat to one of our kids’ families comes through the door one morning, we have no choice but to examine life and society.

We do this in an immediate way, examining our community. And we must do it in a global way, because the world is an interconnected place. It can be overwhelming and exhausting. Remember, it is the kids you teach who yearn for this understanding, who crave and need to learn about the world and how to navigate it. Whether or not it is fair or just or right, kids need and want to know. And it is our job to afford them that opportunity. To offer every student a daily look at life and what it has in store for them, both tough and sad, and lovely and hopeful.