the glorious dilemma
the middle school mind intrigues me:
there is power
and there is wisdom,
as inherent positivity,
as inherent goodness,
finds how to express itself, with rightness,
there is also a willful impulsiveness
that craves to be in a china shop
and cannot help being a reckless bull,
seemingly oblivious at times
to how actions
create such a different world
from the intent and hope,
this week some of my students
used two school years worth of pictures and my computer
to create a half-hour slideshow
to celebrate growth and expression and joy,
we particularly work to celebrate our oldest kids
and show them now and when they were the youngest,
I am in awe of how well my students
figure the ways forward into success,
and I am also aware, again,
of how the teacher should know
when and how to intrude, to guide the growth,
I remember, again, that the caution and care
life has made me learn
is more to be learned
than to be found in the first ventures forth,
the educator needs to know when and how
to let loose the students’ power,
and to know when and how to assert the elder’s truth,
the learner is the prime mover, and the teacher assists,
how to live such a partnership is the glorious dilemma
every educator should love.
by Henry H. Walker
June 6, ‘18
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