TRANSFORMATIVE EDUCATION

I recently had the great honor of being one of eight speakers at the annual TEDxYouth@RVA program at the Collegiate School here in Richmond, Virginia.  I was asked to discuss a topic I was passionate about so, naturally, I chose Transformative Education.  Many thanks go to Rhiannon Boyd and her team (including about 18 senior students at the Collegiate School) for all their help and for creating such a wonderful event.  I can hardly wait until next year so I can go back and sit in the audience and just listen.

(Since I originally published this blog essay, the actual video for the program has been published.  If you have 12 minutes and go to this URL, you can actually watch the entire presentation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G20tup61ZxI&t=1s    )

Here is my speech.

**

I have a quick announcement.  Tomorrow is my birthday.  I will turn 77.  I suspect some of you might think turning 77 sounds old.   But, I’m here to tell you that, if you take care of yourself and if you are lucky, the late 70s can be a fabulous time to be alive.  For one thing, all those years give you a wonderfully unique perspective of life.

As a result of that longevity, I am currently in my 54^th year as a college professor.  54 years!   How could anyone have the same job, day in and day out, for more than half a century?  That’s an easy question for me to answer.

I am a true believer in the importance of education.  More precisely, I’m a strong advocate for education that is transformative.  Every semester, students come into my class over at the University of Richmond and we work together for14 weeks.  If I do my half of the work and the students do their half, the transformation is amazing.  The difference between those students on the first day of the semester and those students on the last day of the semester can be breathtaking.  I very much want them to obtain extensive knowledge about a wide array of topics, but it is more than that.  Just as importantly, I want every student to learn to think more deeply and more critically.  Guiding that transformation is a splendid way to spend a life.  If you have not yet chosen a career, I would urge you to consider becoming a teacher.  The world needs more excellent teachers.

For transformative education to work, it must start as soon as possible.  On the first day of every semester, I explain to my students that I want to work with them as a team to create the greatest educational experience of their lives.  However, I need to help them envision the type of teamwork I want.  So, I talk about dancing.  My wife and I love to dance.  We go to parties and weddings just to dance.  Although I teach accounting, I talk with my students about how two dancers can work together to create something that is spectacular.  If you are older, you might recall Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers.  If you are younger, you might think about John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in the movie, Grease.  Look those couples up on YouTube and you will see dancing that will blow you away.  The couples work together as a team and create a dance that is full of energy, life, enthusiasm, and joy.  In the same way, I want to work with my students as a team to create a class each day that is full of energy, life, enthusiasm, and joy.  Fred and Ginger couldn’t produce that magic by themselves.  They had to work together.  If my students and I work together, we can create that same type of magic.

Therefore, on that first day of class, I pledge to my students that I will do my half of the work, not just now and then or when I’m in the mood but every single day, but I expect them to do their half of the work as well, not just now and then or when they are in the mood but every single day.  If we both hold up our end of that partnership, there is no limit to what we can accomplish. 

I never lecture.  I give my students all the questions in advance and when they walk into the room I start asking them questions.  I ask one and then another because I want to create a dialogue.  In this way, we can avoid “memorizing solutions” or “taking notes on solutions.”  I want them to learn to “figure out the solution.”  That’s where the magic is.

Why is this important?  What should you even care?

Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”  I very much want to be part of that change.  You should want to be part of that change.  Most importantly for me, I want my students to be part of that change, and I believe that is where transformative education becomes essential.

How do we create education that is transformative?  I have thought about that a long time, probably 54 years.  I believe it all starts with teamwork so you and the students need to establish a solid foundation on which you can build that transformative education.  However, it can’t float in midair.  It must have support.  To create that foundation, I believe you must have four building blocks.  Transformative education requires teamwork and teamwork requires a foundation and four building blocks.

The foundation for transformative education is one word:  “trust.”   I must trust that my students will do their half of the work by doing what I ask them to do.  At the same time, my students must trust me to do my half of the work—to guide them, to treat them fairly, and to inspire them.  With mutual trust, we can produce miracles.

You can’t create trust by telling students “trust me.”  You must work to earn it.   That leads to the four building blocks. 

The first building block is communication.  Students cannot read my mind.  I certainly cannot read the students’ minds.  If you have no good way to communicate, then you have no way to lead and inspire.  Before the semester begins and then virtually every day during the semester, I email my students to tell them what I want them to do, why it is important, why it is interesting, and how I will help them achieve success.  I want no uncertainty.  I want no confusion.  But communication goes both ways.  I urge my students to email me or come to my office to let me know their problems, their ideas, their future, their suggestions. 

The second building block is ambition.  I don’t think Fred and Ginger would ever have become great if they had not had a burning desire to be great.  It doesn’t work that way.  The best thing about ambition is that I want my students to be so ambitious that they will push me to be a great teacher.  And, that I will be so ambitious that I will push my students to be great learners.  If you are not willing to push your partner to be great, you’re not ambitious enough.

The third building block is the investment of time.  We live in a society that seems to believe that people can accomplish great things by using shortcuts, so they don’t have to spend too much time.  That is utter nonsense.  John and Olivia would never have created those fabulous dances in Grease if they hadn’t been willing to practice for hours and hours.  If the team is not willing to invest sufficient time, then nothing special is ever accomplished. 

The fourth building block is preparation.  When I walk into class every day, I must be totally prepared, or I cannot do my half of the work.  When the students walk into class every day, they must be totally prepared, or they cannot do their half of the work.  Wishing and hoping do not create transformative education.  The Boy Scouts have it right, “Be Prepared.” 

Changing the world is a complicated process.  Learning an exciting dance is a complicated process.  Creating transformative education is a complicated process.  They all require teamwork, and that teamwork requires a foundation built on trust.  To create that trust you need four building blocks:  communications, ambition, the investment of time, and preparation. 

Tomorrow is my birthday.  I turn 77.  I very much hope you will celebrate with me.  At some point tomorrow, grab a partner, turn on a rock and roll radio station and dance as if you are ready to change the world.