For the past five years, I have been a university student. About six years ago or so, I decided that I needed a career that would support my family. As it turned out, that was a good decision as within a few months, I found myself separated and raising three kids on my own.
Being a student has been a great "job". There's a great deal of flexibility in my schedule, and I can dedicate more time to my kids. When I found out that I was pregnant half way through my second year, I was devastated. How was I going to do this? I still had two more years of school! I couldn't afford to quit school to raise a child, so I did what most don't even think about (sadly). I had a baby AND went to school.
Now, I did take a year (that turned into two years) out of the education program, but I stayed in school. It ended up being a fantastic decision, as it allowed me to take courses I would not have been able to fit into my program otherwise. If all goes well, I will end up graduating with a double major. While raising four kids. On my own. But I digress.
Being a "mature" student, I have realized that there are an awful lot of things, especially in education, that I have learned on my own in life. I told one of my profs in my first year that I didn't really think that there would be much I would learn in my ed classes, but rather, I would just learn a name to put to it. He told me I was probably right, but that I should just suffer through and become a teacher.
It's funny, because looking back on the past five years, in many ways I was right, but in so many more, I was wrong. Somewhere along the line, though I don't think it was conscious, I started to focus on what I could learn, not what I already knew. I have been able to delve deeper into my learning because I could connect my own experience to many of the things we were being taught in the classroom. Since I already had many of the basics, I was able to take the finer details and apply them to my teaching, which I could practice daily. Another advantage to having kids while taking education - you get to put things into practice right away and use your offspring as guinea pigs. ;)
Sometimes I come across students, seemingly particularly in education, who sit there and complain about how stupid the class is, and how they aren't learning anything. (Come to think of it, I hear the same thing in staffrooms when it comes to SAG...) How sad. Really? You're not learning anything? You are choosing to waste the hundreds of dollars that you put into this course by not taking anything out of it? Sure, there are classes that are chalk full of amazing things to learn. But they are like diamonds. A precious jewel. Sometimes a lucky find. I would be great if all classes were like them, but in reality, it will never be that way.
But even in the "worst" class, there is always something you can learn. If you aren't learning it from the prof, you can dig deeper and discover it through the materials and resources that you are guided to.
A group of students were once talking about a certain prof, and saying how it never really seemed like he was teaching anything. I realized quickly that it was a class that I had taken, and had really quite enjoyed. "The prof always tells stories," they complained. "I don't always know what he's getting at." Somehow, I think they either missed the first class, or were not paying attention, because I know he told us that this was his teaching style. And why does he teach that way? It is his culture. See, they were a part of the Aboriginal Education class, and the instructor was of First Nations background. They teach through stories. The lesson usually isn't explicitly stated, but rather left for the listener to discover. The teaching is holistic. So very different from our European education.
What a fantastic experience. Reversal of rolls. First Nations students have continuously put into our classrooms and expected to learn the same way as everyone else, when that is not the style they have grown up with. Now we as students were expected to learn from an unfamiliar style. Perhaps we could now identify just a little bit better. If that was all that they had taken away from the class, at least they would have learned a valuable lesson.
In eight months, I will graduate with my B.Ed. and B.Sc. After six years, my career as a university student will be over. (Or at the very least, put on the back burner until I've paid off my student loans.) However, my life as a student continues. Just as I know I can learn from every class that I take, good or bad, I can learn from every experience. I can learn from my colleagues. I can learn from my students. I can learn from my children. I can learn from my mistakes, and the mistakes of others. I can seek out learning on my own. And I shall. For if I cease to learn, I cease to grow.
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