Growth at Butler pt.3

             Growing up, the daughter of researchers, I internalized the notion that science was the most benevolent thing an intelligent person could do in their lifetime. My parents feared I would become bored studying education, and so I combined it with psychology. Butler’s psychology courses relied on all-knowing professors to impart wisdom, whereas education courses required discussion to facilitate learning. Like a prophecy, I disengaged from these discussions and the field of education, until I took ED 416.

            ED 416 taught strategies for developing, modifying, and implementing curriculums. To my surprise, this process was quite scientific. Initially, my peers and I were encouraged to observe our focal students and form hypotheses based on relevant theories for ways to incur cognitive growth. But, as I began testing and experimenting with my curriculum, I recognized that attempting to fit instruction into a scientific mold was a disservice to myself and my focal student: Rayah.

            Rayah was a challenging student; but I loved her tremendously. Already as a kindergartener, she was “behind” in math and reading. On October 3^rd I reflected, “I am excited for all of the learning potentials we [Rayah and I] have, but I am concerned … I will be unable to help Rayah make progress.” By the next week, something had clearly changed. I wrote, “I have to focus my attention on being a learner.” This insight stemmed from one of the most valuable concepts ED 416 taught me: that learning is a reciprocal process.

            Immersed in Reggio pedagogy at the lab schools, I developed new beliefs about the roles of teacher and student. According to Reggio philosophy, “relationships … function as a vehicle for learning.” The way I had separated myself from my professors and peers isolated me from forming the relationships necessary for growth. Slowly, I understood the ways my educators had attempted to learn alongside me, and that I was responsible for making meaning out of our classroom discussions. I learned to sit in class without becoming frustrated, and I learned to sit beside Rayah without trying to fix her.

            On our last day, each student described their progress. I listened intently and celebrated my classmates’ successes and hoped they would empathize with mine. Nervously, I explained where my predilection for science came from, and the place I believed it should occupy in the discipline. I reasoned that science was helpful for planning lessons, but teaching was artful. Most importantly, I concluded that relationships with other students promoted valuable learning that could not be represented statistically.

This course transformed the way I comprehend learning and cognition as social, rather than individual, processes. After completing ED 416, I conducted research on social processes involved in classroom achievement. This research later evolved into my thesis. Today, I remain an active and supportive classmate, happily reminding myself that everyone has something important to say, and that I am eager to learn from their perspectives. After all, all students are teachers.