Re: Process and Beyond!

From: Kara Lehnhardt
Email: kara.lehnhardt@nl.edu
Date: June 04, 2008

Comments

Hi, Keith and all!

In thinking about mindfulness and the deliberateness of our classrooms, I am reminded of the importance of acknowledging learners as “whole people.” Whether our learners are children or adults, they come to us with a life outside the classroom and the struggles or joys from their home life can contribute to or interfere with their learning process once in the classroom.

I had the honor of attending the Kohl-McCormick teaching awards banquet yesterday and was struck by one of the winners. She was an intercity Chicago teacher whose preschoolers faced daily gang violence in their community. Rather than ignoring the experiences and fears of the children, she addressed the situation in the classroom and pulled it in to children’s learning experiences. The children learned ways to keep themselves safe, talked about valuing those different from themselves, and practiced peaceful ways to resolve conflict.

I think this teacher is a great example of what mindfulness looks like in the classroom. Being mindful means tuning in to learners’ needs. I think that a “choice-oriented” classroom is one that values learners’ interests and builds on their own personal experiences. It takes an attentive and flexible teacher who’s willing to “tune in.”