Catalytic Knowledge

Merriam Webster defines catalyst as "an agent that provokes or speeds significant change or action." That's what this blog is all about. I came up with the name when trying to describe to my husband how I feel about education - about knowledge. Knowledge changes people. I saw an instagram post not too long ago that asked, "Did everyone have that one English teacher that changed their life?" I immediately responded with the teacher who has influenced me the most (shout to to Mr. Saavedra who is probably reading this right now!); and then, I started to do the math... My first 6 years of school, I had one teacher, the next 6 years, I had approximately 6 different teachers a year. That's 42 teachers I have had in my life and only 1 life-changing experience? That's only 2%. And, I'm no math whiz, but I would bet if we adjusted the numbers by the hours spent with each teacher, the percentage would be far less. That's not good enough. As a society, we have to do better by our students. Every day should provide life-changing experiences because we are gaining life-changing knowledge.

Learning theory (don't worry, I won't bore you with the whole thing) provides 3 criteria for learning:

• learning involves change

• learning endures over time

• learning occurs through experience

Therefore, catalytic knowledge is somewhat redundant. Knowledge itself is a catalyst because it induces change. But, I see this redundancy as a reminder of what should really occur in schools. When our children leave our classrooms, our schools, our educational systems, are they changed? And more importantly, are they changed for the better? And if they are changed, does this change endure over time?

I think back to my time in school. So often, I "learned' information to regurgitate it on a test. And, quite honestly, there were times when I knew that my students were doing the same and I had no idea how to stop the cycle. At what point did learning become a chore?

You'll notice that I will speak about my children A. LOT. Sorry, not sorry, y'all. They have taught me so much about life in their short times on this planet. My daughter (we'll call her MJ because she looks exactly like me, so she's Michelle Junior), absolutely loves learning. She is amazed at new things. She goes to school because she loves it. She loves her friends, she loves her teacher, but most importantly, she loves the feeling she gets when she accomplishes something new. I often tell the story of how she spent all of her time focusing on learning how count to 100. Nothing else mattered to her. She wasn't as interested in letters (now you know, I'm an English teacher first, so I was a bit hurt by her slight rejection of letters), but she NEEDED to learn to count to 100. I like to think that to her, counting to 100 ws like getting the keys to an entire new world. And the sense of accomplishment she felt when she finally mastered it? I can't even describe.

But MJ wasn't burdened by the thought of a test. She wasn't hindered by the fear of failing or being held to some arbitrary standard. She was able to just be herself and focus on what interested her. That is what education should be. Through her experience, she not only learned to count to 100, which she will never forget, but she also learned what it feels like to work hard to accomplish something. And that knowledge will hopefully endure throughout her life. This knowledge changed her.

MJ wasn't in school; she was getting an education. She was gaining knoweldge. We need to move our students beyond studying for a test to being changed by knowledge. We need to teach critical thinking skills in a way that makes us vulnerable as teachers; we don't need to have all the answers. As an educator, I was taught to present myself as the knowledgeable person in the room; my job was to pour into the empty vessels of my children. However, Plato considered knowledge to be co-created. Children are not empty vessels; their experiences provide valuable insight into the way the world works. And, when we learn to humble ourselves and treat our children with the respect they deserve as human beings, then we may just find that we will learn just as much from them as they will from us. What I learned from MJ as she worked on learning to count to 100 is the importance of perserverance. The co-creation of knowledge is catalytic. And hopefully, the experience will be life-changing for all who are involved.