Here's a scenario. You're on the beach, you've been out spending the day in the water and wave after wave is hitting you. Most of them are small, and you can either leap over them or dive under them. But then you feel it: the water pulling away from you, taking the depth from your chest to your knees in a matter of seconds. You gaze out towards the horizon and then you see it: the swell.
It's a split second decision. Do you try to resist it? Do you try to jump it? Do you try to dive under it? or do you try to ride it?
I'll be honest I'm not a surfer, but I do enjoy the ocean. I love to body surf in the shallows, but I don't head into the deeper larger surf because I don't have the skills required to do so. But if I've learned one thing in even my small pool, riding the wave is far more fun, far less dangerous, and far easier than trying to survive one.
Education is a series of waves. It will come at us and hit us over and over again until finally it could potentially bury us under a mountain of water. That is unless we learn to ride the wave, and teach our students to ride it with us. What if instead of being afraid of the oncoming wave, we were excited for it? What if, instead of struggling each time we were knocked over or pushed off course, even a little bit, we learned how to transform the way we tackled each obstacle that came at us by preparing to receive it in way that proved our time spent on skills was worth it?
Preston,
ReplyDeleteThank you for this challenge. Every teacher across the world needs to hear this challenge.
What I like about this challenge is that it can apply to so much more than just the waves of technology. It applies to social-emotional learning. It applies to skill building. It applies to everything.
I wonder if learning through the pandemic would have been different had teachers chosen to ride the technology wave sooner? Would there have been a seamless transition? Would there have been panic? Would there have been sweat?
Does there come a point when it's too late to ride the wave though? Once the wave has cascaded does it turn into a sink or swim scenario? I'm not quite sure but I know that after reading your post, my educational surf board is ready!
James