Transformed by Teaching

For the last class session of my quarter long information literacy class, my 15 students, the English and communications instructors who were a part of our learning community and I went to an Ethiopian restaurant for a coffee ceremony and to de-brief about the quarter.  The communications instructor assigned one last speech: "this will be your final impromptu speech: talk about at least one thing you learned this quarter and how it will affect your future."

While the coffee beans were roasted and ground, and the incense burned (anyone who hasn't enjoyed one of these coffee ceremonies, you're seriously missing out), the students shared incredible stories of growth that ranged from learning to measure ones own capacity for empathy to learning that there is a world of information that one has a right to access.  When I wrote my last Bookaneers post on the preparatory reading that I was doing before the quarter started, I could never have anticipated that I would end the quarter with tears rolling down my cheeks as my students stunned me one more time with their strength and insight.

When it was my turn to deliver my speech, I told my students that I'd learned three major things this quarter that would change my whole future:  

• I learned that I love to teach.  I love it so much that it got me up in the morning, got my intellect working in new and dynamic ways, and kept me up at night because I was so excited about the next day's lesson--and this came as a big surprise to me.  I got into librarianship with no idea of how much teaching is involved in every interaction--and how much classroom teaching is a part of the job description of an academic librarian.  By the time I began this class, I'd spent nearly two years teaching one shot research skills sessions to other instructors' classes, and had finally stopped hyperventilating long enough to begin enjoying the time I spent with those students in the classroom.  

But having a classroom of my own was completely different.  Over a whole quarter I had the chance to learn just what my teaching meant to the lives of the students that I got to see twice a week, every week.  And their reciprocal support for me can't be underestimated.  Though none of them knew that I was a new teacher, they instinctively reflected back to me my successes, my mistakes, and their unflagging support of my growth.  I can remember the revelation, during my first quarter in college, when we read Paulo Freire, that the boundaries between being a teacher and a student in the classroom should be wholly permeable.  Finally, in this class, I experienced that equality.  My fellow learners taught me about their cultures, their learning styles, their socioeconomic experiences, and my own teaching--and I grew, intellectually and emotionally, by leaps and bounds as a result.  In the future, I will make teaching a priority in my professional life, because I can't imagine anything more challenging or more fulfilling.   

• I learned the impact that information can have on people's lives.  Of course, my belief in the importance of access to information made me want to be a librarian in the first place, but until now, I'd ever seen the proof in such a real way.  Most of my students are in school because they want to go into social services--and almost all of them made that decision because they themselves have been helped or harmed by going through the social services system, as immigrants, as children, as veterans.  They have the experience and the passion to make outstanding professionals, but all of that knowledge is personal.  What we were able to develop in our class together, were the skills to push their personal narratives into wider-reaching reflections.  Through research, each student was able to contextualize his or her experience into a societal narrative, and marshal information resources to make their advocacy more powerful and persuasive.  In the future, I will always bear in mind the life-changing effect that access to information can have on people's lives.

• I learned about the courage that it takes to get an education.  Every one of my students' stories were different, but each of them surmounted a major obstacle to make it to higher education.  For example, one student ran away from her abusive husband when she was 15 to seek out personal freedom and education in America, though she didn't speak a word of English, and finally, at 32 she was in college.  And hers is hardly the most harrowing experience.  For many students everything about being in school was difficult: the writing, the long hours sitting still, the fear of looking stupid, the difficulty of the work, fitting in homework around children and a full time job, getting enough time on the computer to complete assignments.  But they'd made it to my classroom, and, amazingly, stayed alert, engaged, and fun during our hours together.

For several of my students, the greatest struggles were still to come.  Aside from all of the routine difficulties of college, several students faced incredibly difficult life events during the course of the quarter.  One student lost a close family member to a violent death on Sunday, and was back in my class the following Tuesday.   Another student and her children became homeless during the quarter, and she still managed to turn in her assignments to me.  I can honestly say that had I faced any of the things that these students faced during my second quarter in college, I would not have been able to complete my studies.  When I spoke to them about their amazing persistence in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, each of them made it clear to me that being in school was their greatest achievement, and that they would do almost anything to keep learning.  In the future, I will honor every student who walks through my classroom door as someone who has or who will bravely overcome obstacles to their own learning.  I will never forget how difficult getting an education can be, and I will take my teaching as seriously as they take their learning.

I'm not sure when I'll get to teach another quarter-long class, but I am thrilled that I got the opportunity to teach this one.  Although something special happens when we get to spend months in a learning environment with the same group of people, I know that all of the lessons that I am taking away from this quarter are applicable to my one shot sessions.    And so, to all of my future students, I can't wait to learn what you have to teach me, and to all of my former students, thank you for teaching me so much.