Our Role as Educators

Thoughts & Reflections

What is our role as educators ? What function should “teachers” play? In the “Aims of Education”, Alfred North Whitehead, spells it out:

“The principle of progress is from within: the discovery is made by ourselves, the discipline is self-discipline, and the fruition is the outcome of our initiative. The teacher has a double function. It is for him to elicit the enthusiasm by resonance from his own personality, and to create the environment of a larger knowledge and a firmer purpose.”

This statement, rich and fertile in scope, has strong resonances with the Montessori approach to education, with which Whitehead was familiar – more on that, in a later post.

Whitehead posits:

1) the role of the teacher is to inspire the students.

2) the role of the teacher is to create an environment that structures and fosters this growth.

Sound familiar? It’s very much in line with what Montessori offers.

Not to tell parents, let alone children, what is right or wrong, but to offer the space in which the children are free to flourish. One of the failures of education, in our opinion, is that “teachers” assume a position of judgement. Instead of actively encouraging the exploration of the environment, “teachers”, or those in a position of power, because power is important on that model, limit the possibilities of the children by dictating the course of action.

On the one hand, we try to establish a system of education devoid of these types of transcendence. On the other hand, we turn around and judge parents and families who do not take our advice. It’s the paradox of education. We wonder, what would the public school system look like if it was more inspired by Whitehead, than Dewey?