“In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few.”
Shunryu Suzuki, author of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind.
After 15 years of teaching at the college level, I made a bold move and accepted a job teaching English in a local charter high school. In one respect, this move has been something of a spiritual return; what is now Glenview College Preparatory High School used to be the junior high Catalina North. My mother taught English at Catalina North before I was born, and many years later I attended as a 7th and 8th grader. Now I teach here, and my middle son is a senior here, making three generations involved on this campus.
But in another respect, teaching high school is a whole different ballgame. I knew that it would be different, and yet it is still more different than I expected. While in many ways the teaching is the same as it’s been for most of my career, in other ways it is a whole other animal. Parent contacts, detention, - there are so many small details that are not on the college professor’s radar. And the students come into class with a different set of expectations and abilities. I can clearly recognize the college students many of them will become, but they’re still obscured behind a cloudy screen of high schoolness.
So I renew my commitment to my craft, to my students, and to the value of education and knowledge. By embracing the challenge of teaching in a new and unfamiliar context, I get to see education from a new perspective and deepen my understanding of this art.
Shunryu Suzuki, author of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind.
After 15 years of teaching at the college level, I made a bold move and accepted a job teaching English in a local charter high school. In one respect, this move has been something of a spiritual return; what is now Glenview College Preparatory High School used to be the junior high Catalina North. My mother taught English at Catalina North before I was born, and many years later I attended as a 7th and 8th grader. Now I teach here, and my middle son is a senior here, making three generations involved on this campus.
But in another respect, teaching high school is a whole different ballgame. I knew that it would be different, and yet it is still more different than I expected. While in many ways the teaching is the same as it’s been for most of my career, in other ways it is a whole other animal. Parent contacts, detention, - there are so many small details that are not on the college professor’s radar. And the students come into class with a different set of expectations and abilities. I can clearly recognize the college students many of them will become, but they’re still obscured behind a cloudy screen of high schoolness.
So I renew my commitment to my craft, to my students, and to the value of education and knowledge. By embracing the challenge of teaching in a new and unfamiliar context, I get to see education from a new perspective and deepen my understanding of this art.
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