Learning to Trust our Learners

Anytime I think about our school I find myself with mixed emotions. On one hand, I have seen so much growth in our learners since the beginning of the year. I’ve seen growth in their ability to handle social situations, problem-solve, be flexible, and regulate their emotions. I’ve seen growth in how they tackle their work, how they dive into projects with deep curiosity, and how they are expanding their ideas to write stories.

On the other hand, I panic. There is so much to teach students - so much for them to learn - so much to cover. What are we doing letting this be primarily student-led? What are our students missing? What if they never join a math group? What if they do not ever complete their work? Maybe, I’ll find myself thinking, we need more direction. More instruction. More explicit instruction. More “today we are studying X.”

It’s an overwhelming responsibility to educate other people’s children - especially in an alternative setting. These are people’s most prized possessions - what if we mess them up? What if we don’t teach them enough? We need more teacher-direction!

And yet - as I complete progress reports for each child and look specifically at growth, I’m floored with how much they have learned this trimester, despite the loose structure. Yes, some students specifically would benefit from more guidance and top-down requirements. Everyone is different in their learning needs. Yet other learners have thrived in the open-ended format.

Why do we find it so difficult to trust children? Why is giving them freedom to explore, make mistakes, and solve problems so difficult for us? So m

uch of it comes from our adult “what if” questions and our deep desire to prevent conflict or struggle.

What if a learner does nothing but origami one day, but the next day researches the origins of origami and then writes a report about it? What about the learner who chooses to design a rain gauge one day and the next begins to write a musical? The learner who was hesitant to write anything in the beginning of the year and now has multiple stories going on? The learner who was resistant to participating in anything and now is independently researching her questions about aspects of science she has always wondered about?

So often when we try to dictate the learning we forget to allow learners to make their own connections, follow their paths, and set their own agendas.