That's The Job

As a preschool teacher, I always tried to keep one thing in mind as a new school year began. My job beyond creating a beautiful, meaningful, safe-enough environment, is creating relationships. I was charged, from day one, with the mission to get children on my bandwagon or, failing that, get on their bandwagon or, failing that, work with the kids to create a whole new bandwagon upon which we could all happily jump.

I reminded myself life is not a journey with a pre-determined destination, but is rather more akin to roaming.

I tried to keep in mind that wondering is the highest level of intellectual, creative, and spiritual activity, far above merely knowing.

And above all, I wanted everyone to understand that we, to paraphrase Kurt Vonnegut, are put on this earth to goof around, and there is no other purpose.

When thought of this way, the job of teacher becomes one of emancipator rather than, as is so often the case, the jailor of young children. When we see ourselves and the children as co-creators of a unique community, one that allows us to get our needs met while also allowing others to get their needs met, we are laying the foundation for a true education. "(L)earning," as Ivan Illich writes, "is the human activity which least needs manipulation by others. Most learning is not the result of instruction. It is rather the result of unhampered participation in a meaningful setting."

And it all begins with relationship, which is where everything worth doing or experiencing or knowing begins. As Robin Wall Kimmerer writes, "For what is corn, after all, but light transformed by relationship?" That's all anything ever is: light transformed by relationship. The rest is roaming, wondering, and goofing around. That's the job.

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"Few people are better qualified to support people working in the field of early childhood education than Teacher Tom. This is a book you will want to keep close to your soul." ~Daniel Hodgins, author of Boys: Changing the Classroom, Not the Child, and Get Over It! Relearning Guidance Practices

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