Hilgartner Open Learning

I have often questioned the work that I do and its meaning. When I am gone, will my teaching have been a fruitless effort? I became a teacher to do meaningful work and to have a positive impact on the world around me. In my efforts, I have gone on to make a career of supporting teachers in this 'good' work. At its heights, this work has given me hope. However, I have seen its depths. I have seen 'great' teachers crushed. I have seen 'amazing' students neglected. I have seen 'strong' work washed away like so much triviality. I have seen education pushed aside and beaten down by politics and economics. At these times, I doubt if what we do as educators (that term including everyone who teaches and learns) is doing anything. At these moments, I have clung to the maxim that if you put a 'good' teacher in front of students with as little as a piece of chalk and a board and learning will occur. The statement has given me hope. It has been a securit...