The
Triad: An Approach Toward Being an Educational Leader
Article by Bart Ezra Plaskoff: February
10, 2005
Educational leaders are a rare breed. It is certainly apparent that many of us have not chosen the profession for material gratification, so what does drive us to be educational leaders? Some educators wish to “make a difference”; some do it for personal satisfaction, but there are those who have the “lots of free time” motive or the “easy paycheck” mentality, and these educators usually never last more than two to three years in this profession. They come to the realization that the phrase “those that can’t teach” has become quite an antiquated stigma.
In order to remain educational leaders it appears that we all have one major ideal in common…the “will” to learn. We are presented many choices as to how we should or, even at times, must teach our students either by some philosophical idea or psychological approach, but it seems as if there is one piece of the educational puzzle missing. I believe this to be a spiritual approach to learning, and once the spiritual catalyst is infused, the “will” to learn resurfaces.
The philosophical ideas as well as psychological are absolutely of utmost importance, and they do work hand-in-hand. But when the spiritual ideals are added, this forms an educational harmony. This is reminiscent of the messages alluded by the Metaphysical Poets of the 19th Century. If we approach our students with such a harmony to allow them to be an integral part of their learning experience, then the “will” to learn is instilled (i.e. the spiritual) and thus “true” learning takes place.
John Locke’s “Tabula Rasa” theory plays a very important part in my belief system as an educator (I use the terms educator and educational leader interchangeably, as I believe all educators are leaders in their field), in that all human beings begin with a clean slate. However, I believe this to be a "spiritual" slate. When a child is in the early stages of education the “will” to learn is present. The child wishes to learn all he/she can. The "Essence of Learning" (B. Plaskoff, 2005.) is pure. Learning is almost instinctual in nature. He/She is compared to that of a sponge, soaking in any and all information possible. By the time middle school rolls around, the child has become more enamored by society. He/She strives to simply to fit in. Students become more aware of social structures and standing; bodies are changing physically, and the child then strives for independence. As the child becomes a young adult, he/she becomes less motivated, and the “will” to learn becomes pushed to the back of the mind. Social survival becomes a priority. Because the “will” to learn is suppressed during this period, the transition to higher learning becomes more and more difficult.
For most high school students, the only reason to learn is based on the material ideology of society; to get a job, have a nice car, and enjoy the finer things in life. Many of our public school mission statements include the phrase, “…and to be a contributing member of society.” Because much of society is controlled by materialism, the same controls our educational system. School attendance begets money for the school; if students test well, the school satisfies its objective for state and federal funding. Educators tend to be sucked into a never-ending vicious cycle of teaching to tests and rote memorization. This is a very poor example to set for students. Their “will” to learn either becomes non-existent or based solely on material gratification. The “clean slate” becomes tainted by society, and independent thinking becomes regurgitative. So while, according to Tyler, I do consider my thoughts both progressive and transformational in nature, it is also my contention that without societal change, true educational reform will be a difficult nut to crack. Further, without true educational reform, it is very difficult to instill spiritualism back into society, which according to Tyler is considered quite radical.
So how do we, as educational leaders change society? The teachings of a great sage and spiritual teacher, Paramhansa Yogananda, best convey this idea by saying that once one attains spiritual mastery, the material will follow as necessary. We must reach students on a spiritual level and attempt to make these changes over time…long periods of time. We must allow students to become a part of their own learning and decision making process. Teaching to tests, regurgitative methods and highly standardized curriculums are not the answer. Students should be looked at as individuals and must be happy, intrigued, interested, and challenged by what they are learning. They must learn in a positive and safe environment. Comfortable classrooms with exposure to various examples of music, art and literature are very important to a learning environment. This type of environment engages the student in learning to analyze, interpret and discover different points of view - all elements of upper level thinking skills.
As educational leaders, we must provide the students tools, which allow them to discover and apply what they have learned to real life situations. Guided instruction and constructivism allows for just such a learning experience. This in turn motivates students to want to learn for the sake of learning and growth; not because he/she must learn what is on a test or forced upon them by school districts that are eager to buy into the latest and greatest program brought to them by third party researchers…researchers whose primary focus is to make money and reinvent the wheel, which time and time again has been proven ineffective as evidenced by the ongoing swings of the pendulum that our educational system endures. It is important for us to teach students to recognize that in many cases there may be more than one answer or approach, and not to be afraid of taking a different approach. In many cases, the journey or approach to answers becomes more important than the answer itself. This is when “true” learning takes place. It is when the learning becomes satisfying to the student, and the act of learning becomes the “reward”. The “will” to learn again resurfaces and thus spiritualism becomes an integral part of the learning experience.
As educational leaders, we must teach students that failure is not to be feared, but rather used as a tool to correct or better oneself. We need to try to remove “the fear of failure” from our curriculums and allow for a more positive approach. Perhaps we should concentrate more on subjective forms of assessment based upon performance and observation rather than letter grades, which tend to damper the “spirit” and add much, unneeded stress to the lives of a great many students. Very rarely do we receive letter grades in the real world. We primarily receive evaluations and suggestions on how we may better ourselves. It would be an even better notion to have students become more involved in their own evaluative process.
It is very apparent that as we make our way through life, we learn from our myriad experiences. It is quite common for educators to state that schools really never teach us what being in the classroom is really like, so why do we tend to ignore this idea in what may be some of the most formative years of the lives of the audience we are trying to reach? Between grades, tests, fear of failure, social and family problems, money and the lack of educational leaders who are willing to actually listen to students rather than governmental entities, it is no wonder that we have a problem motivating students to want to learn in public education! I do believe that many educational leaders are beginning to “see the light”, and that we will see an influx of more vocational, religious and charter programs, which will permit some of this educational change to take place.
As an educational leader, I do find that there does need to be a balance between philosophical opinions and psychological approaches to education, but my goal in education is to reinstill the spiritual aspect of learning permitting the “will” to learn to rise from the ashes of a high school student having been decimated by a materialistic society in the pubescent years, thus creating educational harmony.
While it may appear to many that my thoughts are idealistic and maybe even unattainable, I would invite them to speak with the many students whom have returned to visit me and thanked me for changing their lives. While this may be perhaps a small dent or even a scratch on the surface of both educational and societal reform, “…it is accomplished.”