Share #yourEdustory, week 2: Inspired by MLK: how will you make the world a better place?

It’s too easy to assume that because I’m a teacher, I make the world a better place. Everyone from Einstein to Steinbeck, Aristotle to Andy Rooney, Lee Iacocca to Steve Jobs to Bill Gates to Dr. Seuss has given us reason to believe that simply by being teachers, we are affecting the future, making the world a better place.

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But how much do I improve the world if I just teach my students to pass tests? Train my students to write formulaic essays? Motivate my students to read core curriculum books? Even instilling a love of learning isn’t enough to genuinely make the world a better place, is it? No, the world needs more than educated people. The world needs educated people who are passionate about how they can use their talents, skills and education to make the world a better place.

Prior to reading Steinbeck’s The Pearl, my students write about how their lives might change if they win the lottery. I push them to be thoughtful in this assignment, to consider honestly the pros and cons of great wealth, and how they and the people around them would change as a result of instant riches. Many students write that never having to get a job would be the best part of winning the lottery.  That prediction becomes part of a class discussion.

“Why do we work?” I ask them. “What is the value of a job, a vocation, a career?”  Most students respond with the obvious: money. They’ve heard the message their entire (relatively short) lives: get an education so you can get a good job, so you can buy nice things, so you can support yourself and your family. It’s a rare 8th grader who recognizes that our work can give us much more than financial security or luxury. Once in a great while, I read responses like these:

“Life would get so boring because I wouldn’t have to work for my money.”

“…even if I had everything in the world, I would still get bored and become unhappy.”

“Even with my wealth, I would need something in my life to keep me going. Without a job, I would have no reason to get out of my bed in the morning and no incentive to do anything.”

My students are a little young to understand the psychological benefits that come from finding our passions, using our skills to help others, and persevering through hard work. And that’s where I have the opportunity (the responsibility, even) to point them in the direction of finding the causes that will motivate them, the role models that will inspire them, and the gifts and abilities that will empower them to improve the world.

The quality of my teaching is reflected not in how highly educated my students become, nor how wealthy, but in whether or not they find their passions and pursue solutions to problems they see in their world. So that’s my challenge and my hope: to pass the torch of world-improvement on to my students, empowering them to tackle what will fulfill their lives more than what the world tells them they need.