Opinion
Teaching Profession Opinion

Mission-Minded Teaching

August 30, 2016 4 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

by James E. Ford

It’s that time of year again. Summer has ended, and the dawn of a new school year has appeared. Teachers are preparing their classrooms and reviewing their rosters. Students are taking advantage of back-to-school sales and fulfilling their supply lists. And the hallways shine like new from a fresh summer buffing.

As educators prepare their hearts and minds for the endurance race of the academic year, we must also take time to reflect and remind ourselves of our purpose as educators. Revisiting the philosophical foundations of our work--understanding the ‘why'--can provide much needed inspiration to sustain us throughout the year.

Last year while traveling to Singapore I met a man who cemented for me the importance of understanding why we do what we do. As part of a delegation of award-winning teachers from all over North Carolina, I was setting off to explore the world’s most reputable education systems and learn from their successes. My first lesson began before even boarding the plane, sitting next to a gentleman also headed to Asia and making a connection in Chicago. We struck up polite conversation: asking what I do, where I was headed and why. I told him I was a teacher and explained my itinerary, but we hit a snag when I reversed the question and asked why he was traveling to Thailand. He had difficulty answering the big question, “Why”?

“I’m going to do missions for a year,” he responded. I wanted to know more about these “missions,” so I asked what he intended to do. Was he providing clean water, building schools, administering vaccines? I wanted to know the purpose of his work, what he was hoping to achieve. But my fellow traveler struggled to clarify his intentions and finally just ended up saying, “Ah, I’m just going over there to do good stuff.”

Of course, I let him off the hook, but I couldn’t shake that moment. There was something powerfully instructive about both what he said and what he didn’t say. I couldn’t judge him because I think that most of us in education can relate. Yes, we’re educators. But I wonder: how many of us do know what gives us the steam to do our work, what powers us forward? We are clear about WHAT we do, without always knowing WHY.

While it may seem trivial to parse the difference between WHAT and WHY, to me, someone who is grounded in WHY operates from a totally different mindset. WHAT is missionary. WHY is mission-minded.

To be missionary, however noble, to act much like my friend on the plane, is simply “wanting to do good stuff.” WHAT affirms us as individuals and makes us feel that we are making a positive contribution to a cause we can’t fully explain. We volunteer at a local homeless shelter, donate toys for a Christmas drive, raise money for researching cancer, etc. Virtually nobody can deny that all of these things are good, righteous deeds and worthy of appreciation. They serve general purpose to aid someone through an action, but their effects can be hard to describe precisely.

For teachers operating from WHAT, this same thinking applies. When asked why we teach, we say things like, “Oh, I just love kids,” or “I just want to give back,” or “I wanted to make a difference.” These are all generous ideas that come from a place of benevolence. If we’re being honest, however, we also know that those responses do not really cut to the heart of the issue because they do not answer the burning question, WHY?

As with effective lesson planning, we have to begin with the end in mind. We have to set our sights on an intended greater purpose. We have to know what we hope to achieve. This is the fundamental difference between being a “missionary teacher” or a “mission-minded teacher.”

Mission-minded teachers have well-defined objectives that they seek to accomplish. Their inspired and passionate work is aimed at the larger target continually in sight. Mission-driven teachers don’t lose steam because they know they are a part of something greater, a vision larger than themselves. When you ask the mission-minded teachers why they teach, they say things like, “to break cycles of poverty"; “to improve the life chances of my children"; “to create a more informed public"; or “to help students become productive citizens.” In short, their well-crafted educational philosophy pervades every aspect of their classroom with greater purpose. Transformative teaching--mission-minded teaching--has to be rooted and grounded in something deeper than a do-good mentality.

As you gear up for this school year, make revisiting your education philosophy part of your preparation. Write it down. Hang it up prominently. Let it provide inspiration to you for the moments when your enthusiasm or morale wanes. Perhaps the most important part of your school-year preparation will be finding for yourself the real reason why you teach.

James E. Ford is the 2015 North Carolina State Teacher of the Year and a member of the National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY).

Related Tags:

The opinions expressed in Teacher-Leader Voices are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
3 Key Strategies for Prepping for State Tests & Building Long-Term Formative Practices
Boost state test success with data-driven strategies. Join our webinar for actionable steps, collaboration tips & funding insights.
Content provided by Instructure
Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and K-12 education jubs at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
Promoting Integrity and AI Readiness in High Schools
Learn how to update school academic integrity guidelines and prepare students for the age of AI.
Content provided by Turnitin

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Teaching Profession From Our Research Center Teacher Morale Is on the Upswing. Will It Last?
Education Week recorded a jump in teacher morale. What factors explain the upswing?
8 min read
Photo collaged illustration of teachers
Vanessa Solis/Education Week via Canva
Teaching Profession ‘Does Anyone Care How Hard I Worked Today?’: Principals and Teachers Get Candid
Three conversations reveal what's really going on with teacher morale.
2 min read
030425 SOT Principals Teachers EDU BS
Allison Shelley for All4Ed
Teaching Profession Video Meet the Hometown Boy Turned Art Teacher (and Bus Driver, and Wrestling Coach, and ...)
Clayton Hubert is bus driver, art teacher, and coach. But even his small, tight-knit school community struggles with student engagement.
1 min read
SOT Lamberton BS THUMBNAIL
Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week
Teaching Profession Video ‘It’s Not All Rainbows and Butterflies’: SEL in the Early Grades
A veteran teacher reflects on how the classroom (and the kids) have changed, and on what's needed to fix education.
1 min read
021525 SOT SEL BS
Sam Mallon/Education Week