Credit to three

Just a tip of the cap this morning to three wonderful Ontario Educators – Colleen Rose, Aviva Dunsiger, and Lisa Noble.

In case you missed it, Colleen had written a blog post recently “Stop. Please.”

I had shared my thoughts in last Friday’s “This Week in Ontario Edublogs” post.

Like most blog posts, I had added my own little call to action for Colleen’s post “See where Colleen takes her discussion in the post.”

Now, I’m used to being ignored.  It happens all the time.  But, by the time I’d written my post, Lisa had already commented on the post.  Then, Aviva jumped in and, as she usually does, she shares on Twitter that we had commented.  That prompted a return to the post by Lisa.

Then Aviva.

Then Lisa.

And there was a side discussion on Twitter as well.  Lisa, on her blog, had shared that she was talking about the concept with her Grade 6 class.

My first thought, as I revisited things this morning, was “Wow, this post really had appeal”.

A good follow-up question would be “Why?”

As I started to mull that in my mind, I started to realize that what they’re talking about here is the essence of education.  It’s not just students.  It’s not just teachers.  It’s not just administrators.  It’s education.

On a daily basis, there are all kinds of pieces of advice about how to teach this or that.  There’s no shortage of edu-babble about the latest and greatest theory or some new research or just something to learn.

We know that there are high flyers in whatever learning seats who just thrive on stuff.  We know that there are those who don’t care about what’s going on and are there because it’s warm inside.

There are techniques and pedagogy to handle those learners. These learners are easy to identify and to work with.

But what about the learner who says “Stop. Please.”?

Is it even allowed in class or your own learning situations?

Are we up for handling those who ask that with our professionalism and courtesy?  Are we up for making that statement ourselves when we’re in the situation Colleen describes?

If not, what needs to change?  Is the current treatment just a bit of lip service?

I would encourage you to jump in on Colleen’s blog and share your thoughts.