What Matters, What Influences, What Sticks

Whenever we do deep dives into education and talk about all the key variables with the school experience, I always feel as though there’s an important element missing. I am guilty of this all the time, whether it’s in my writing, conversations with colleagues, or through the minutiae of my day-to-day work. But in reality, there are factors that seem to matter much more than what is discussed, analyzed, and debated. 

Make no mistake - the macro variables drive everything…state statute, funding, academic standards, testing, budgets, staffing, etc. Those are inescapable factors that are of course important. Some of those things are going to be analyzed further in future posts, and some of these things I’ve already written about. 

What I’m thinking about are the things that matter to students. The things that leave a lasting impression on their lives. The experiences that shape their thinking, their mindsets, and in some ways their personalities and outlooks on life. 

First, some personal background. A few weeks ago, I read an article in the newspaper here about a new and upcoming rapper on the local music scene. The article went into detail about their schooling experience, beginning with the impact and change in trajectory upon transferring into our district at the start of middle school. This person went on to graduate from the U of M, and has expanded their musical footprint & impact while also starting a professional career in mental health. As I read the article, I kept thinking “I wonder if that is so-and-so…?” Fast forward about a week and a half after reading that article. I’m at the varsity basketball game for our high school (I’d been a coach in the program for the past 10 years and this year stepped away, but still make it to a lot of the home games). It was a Friday night, and many former players and graduates were on hand to watch. Besides talking to some former players, one of the now twenty-something people there stood up to greet me and before he finished saying “hey Mr. Moore, I’m not sure if you remember…” I interrupted and said “_______! Of course I remember!!” And then we proceeded to catch up for a few minutes, exchanging some life catch-up details, where he downplayed the musical success and was as proud of his burgeoning career working in mental health. We wrapped up our talk as we both said “thanks, great to see you…this actually made my week!”

Here’s why I share this quick story - he wasn’t excited to see me because he wanted to thank me for guiding him through subject-verb agreement. Rather, he made a point of saying things like “I loved your class, it was always fun” and “the work and learning were fun.” We didn’t share memories around tests; rather, we had some laughs remembering funny moments in class, the nickname he wanted to go by, etc. 

That was a great interaction for many reasons. First, I always love running into former students/players and learning about their lives, how they’ve grown, what they’ve accomplished, etc. Second, it serves as a nice reminder of why I’m in the field I’m in…even if I’m not in the classroom now, it reinforces why I’m drawn to work with people, help people & systems develop, etc. And maybe most importantly, it’s a great reminder about the things people remember about their experience in school…which is the whole point. People remember how they felt, ways in which they were honored and welcomed, who they were able to connect with, and how their school experience shaped their lives. This is really why I want to do some deep dives into what makes ‘ideal’ school experiences here and around the world. This is why there needs to be advocacy for ‘soft skill’ development, creativity and play, social-emotional learning, and ever-important skills like creativity, collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving. These factors, along with robust literacy and numeracy programming, will be what help drive our students to new heights in an ever-changing, AI-enabled world.