A New Orientation
The Result-
Decided by experts
And set to deadlines,
Adhered to tasks and tests-
Is supposed to determine
The capabilities of the taught.
But what if…
The people, the deadlines and the tests
Changed?
Then,
Wouldn’t the evaluation of capabilities
Too change?
They may know what
The learners don’t know…
They know what
The learners can’t do…
But can they truly know
All that the learner knows and can do?
And more importantly,
Can the teachers help the learner find
What she knows?
….And discover what she can do?
And give her the courage to learn
Along the path her tendencies point to?
A new form of education will emerge
Where we will no longer look
For new ways to teach what we know
But where we will learn to be open
To new outcomes…
And failure to pass is no longer seen
As a failure to be.
From a new form of education
Will emerge a new society
Co-operative, not competitive…
A world with infinite paths
And infinite ways to be
Educated. Fulfilled. Happy.
This poem was inspired by my students who did not fit in and who liberated me as an educator. To them, I went to teach…but I came back as the taught.
