It sounds so serious, what we’re tasked to do: act as agents of change within the public education system. And yet, as change agents go, we must be among the most fun to be around. There is laughter, self-deprecation, joy in art exploration, surprise in student connections and utter euphoria when the magic in a classroom happens. Those are the “tickled” moments.
The LTTA objective is success on all fronts: local artists loving their classroom work, teachers embracing and adapting to the challenge of differentiated instruction, and students who show their intelligences through creative projects and teaching. The First Nations, Metis and Inuit youth are one focus of our work in Fort McMurray- a group of young people who are, in many ways, carrying the weight of the residential school experience that their parents and grandparents survived.
For me, it’s been a long couple of the years of education. All the things I didn’t know fill my head, now. I consider protocol in FMNI communities. I remember the importance of time. I think about how to be a better listener (with more than a New Year resolution commitment.) I wake up dreaming of a new way of explaining what I know so that others will follow along because they now know it to be true. I try to remember that balance is the key. Time for family, for writing, for meditating, for moving, for being still is just as important as time for reaching LTTA objectives.
I imagine it’s a familiar refrain from many of us at this time of year when evaluation and assessment of our lives creep into our thoughts via a human tradition of starting afresh.
