LEAD Conference: Assisting educators in meeting today’s classroom challenges

Emdin’s focus was on reclamation. He said the work of teachers has, for the last two decades, been hyper-focused on the measurements of the competencies of teaching and learning. It has spent more time on rubrics than about the essence of what teaching and learning is. “What we’ve lost is the pursuance of the thing that makes us effective educators,” he said.

The process of reclamation begins with the recognition that systems have robbed teachers of the essence of their craft, Emdin explained. Part of this is the intrusion of AI. Emdin said AI tells us what it is right up front. Artificial. It has no spirit, no emotion, no sauce, no soul. “It’s named itself based on its deficiencies,” he said.

He encouraged the audience to reclaim the humanity of learning. “If you had unlimited resources, what would you do with students in the classroom,” he asked, noting that an answer he often hears is “I would buy iPads for everyone.” “With unlimited resources? Even your dreams are limited,” he said. “When was the last time you dreamed about what was possible in our field?”

He’s also heard people say “what do you want from me? I’m an introvert.” “Fine, be an introvert when you get home. This work in education is field work. It’s open-heart work,” he said. Teaching is the ultimate performance art, where the artist and the audience are interlocked in a single ecosystem, he added. “At some point you don’t know who the artist is because everyone has a part to play,” he said. “That is teaching.”

Emdin also acknowledged the climate of the times. “The world is crazy right now,” he said. “But all this noise has nothing to do with how we step up to love our children.” In 50 years when they write about now, they will ask what did you do when the world went crazy, he told the audience. “What did you do? I taught. You don’t want to say I followed the regime,” he said. “To be in education at this time, you are someone’s superhero. You have to lead like it every single day.”

Addressing chronic absenteeism

Later that day, educational consultant, podcast host, speaker, and author Sharon Bradley spoke on chronic absenteeism and how to address it collectively. “I kept hearing there’s no silver bullet. There’s not just one reason,” she said when it comes to the causes for chronic absenteeism and potential solutions. “Which means there’s not just one mind able to do it. So collectively we can do it.”

Bradley said kids need a team of people who want them to win. “We think they know this but are we explicitly saying these things?” she asked. There are celebrations and incentives for perfect attendance, but what about celebrating improved attendance? “We need to celebrate what we want to replicate,” she said.