The Courage to Change Old Ideas....

“We have a powerful potential in our youth, and we must have the courage to change old ideas and practices so that we may direct their power toward good ends.”  

Mary McLeod Bethune

Mary McLeod Bethune is one of this country’s greatest educators.  She suggests that service and dedication are consistently linked and one without the other is not only difficult to achieve, but not advised.  I am always engrossed in any conversation that concerns her work as an educator.  Her practices are unmatched and are deeply rooted in the idea that our children can change the world if we allow them to!  I think about her tonight as I write this post because I am at a crossroads in my educational career.  I have had the opportunity to work with a specific program for over a decade and I recently found out that this program has been defunded, leaving me to wonder, what’s next?  I question whether or not I have the capacity or “courage to change [my] old ideas and practices” so that my students can excel.  I know that I do, but I am concerned, as many educator are.  How or what are the next steps in this process?  Where do we go from here? As these concerns linger, I think about the “old school” educators that didn’t have fancy programs, teachers editions or websites to help charter their paths, they did it, and they did it well.  However, it was not without purpose or planning.  I see my next steps in this process as ones that will require an incredible amount of research and patience, but it’s a necessary part of the profession, one that should be embraced.  We cannot teach our children that trying new things is essential to growth and refuse to do the same.  I realize that the next decade of my career as an educator might be driven by something other than tangible resources, it must include what it always has, dedication to the idea that if I am willing and open minded, my children will be the most important beneficiaries.