Oh yes....you're here because of the title, right? I'm pretty sure the traffic to my minimalist blog won't increase because of this title, but today, I'm thinking about passion. Unfortunately, those hoping to get a glimpse into my Passionate life, are probably going to say, "I told ya she has no life."
Teaching for 21 years has brought many trends to light in my life. I've seen whole language come and go. I've seen RAD, which was a binder training strategy for middle school to aid in organization. I've watched as we have gone from a profession demanding rigor and responsibility to a profession that allows many chances....and by many, I mean at the very least 10. Prepubescent kids are still pretty much hormones on rollerblades with the inability to put the brakes on when necessary. But what I see changing in our world, especially with younger generations, is passion.
This passion isn't the kind that is displayed by two groping teens in the corner under the stairway where they don't think the video cameras nor teachers will locate them. This passion I speak of is not as simplistic as hormones---it's the thing that grows in one's heart from when they are young and it drives him/her. It is a reason. It is a purpose. It is a skill sometimes or a desire. In my humble opinion, our youth lack it. Why is that?
I've gone through many scenarios of why young people and passion don't go hand in hand anymore except in the confines of the backseat of a car. Could it be they have too many things available to specialize in an area? Is that any different than those of us who grew up in a smaller town and were able to do various activities instead of marrying one like kids do today? (I would have died if basketball went year round like it does for kids nowadays instead of having merely a season and a couple camps in the summer.) Could it be they're too lazy to commit to anything? Well, judging by their desire to complete homework, this is a stronger possibility for me than the former reason. But I still don't think that is it.
I believe we as adults don't share with our younger generations our own passions. Yeah, I know---blame the parents again. That's not where I'm going. I'm basically thinking too many of us do our jobs and stop there. Or we give up our passions because life takes over and there isn't enough time. Or some of us, like me, get to call their passion their job, which can be both good and bad. Good for my kids to see I've chosen something I love to do, but on those bad days, it's not always encouraging for them to see Mama has chosen her passion and that's why she's about ready to strangle you.
Deep within I believe we all have a passion. We have a drive that is satisfied by something and sometimes it will take awhile to figure out what that passion is. Yet, I want to be the type of person who can help my own children, both in and outside of the classroom, find their passions. I can't imagine my life without teaching kids...without music....without writing....without photography.....without animals.....without God. Those were my passions when I was younger and guess what? They still are. Now if I can only instill in my shadows the fact that pursuing and living with passion is a good thing, I will feel much more complete. And I might worry less about who is going to make sure I get my meds on time when I'm in the nursing home and the workers there aren't passionate about their jobs.......
I think it is a combination of living in a fast food, easy credit, immediate satisfaction/gratification world. Our kids don't want for much...or what they do want they don't need. A cell phone or an iphone is different than "needing" food. Video games offer an outlet for many...boys particularly...destroying original thought and creativity and giving them a world where they do little and gain a lot (power, money etc). This is discussed at length in a book called Boys Adrift by Leonard Sax. We've also explained away much of what our kids deal with, blaming it on "disorders" with fancy names and "advocating" for them. My son has a vision disorder, but he is learning how to overcome it. Yes we do things a little different for now...but that's for now. At some point he must go beyond. Education as we know it is often focused on student's weaknesses, making them feel stupid and worthless, rather than allowing them to focus on their strengths and allowing their weaknesses to improve with them. And as a teacher, you are locked in to your curriculum decided by the state or the school and you teach your hardest and your best...only to see kids lose passion for learning. But it is also the move away from God. God is our creator and He has made us each with a purpose and a plan. When a child is taught that man came from nothing (premordial goo) and evolved and that they are born and they will die...they have no value. Knowing that God made each one of us with a purpose and a plan and in love, by love and for love...that should ignite passion. But we can't talk about that in our schools or rarely in public and only vaguely during the "holidays". Thank you for being more committed to kid's education than they are to it. I pray you are blessed and rewarded more than you could ask or imagine.
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