Chuck the bucket.

By Amy Ferguson

When I was growing up, I attended a local school. This school had a very mixed catchment - students came from all walks of life and sat shoulder to shoulder. I did what I was told, when I was told. I revised and studied and worked my hardest.

When I left school and attended university, I had a lot of adjusting to do. I was used to being told what to do and being praised for it. Instead, my lecturers asked me questions like “what do you think?” “what can you hear?” and “what’s your opinion?” I tried my best to give the “right answers” - the ones I thought they were looking for. I continued to work hard, study and do what I was told.

As a newly qualified teacher, I was told I “lacked initiative”. I was baffled by this comment as I had done everything I was told do. I followed instructions to the letter. I planned everything down to the minute. But did this approach leave any room for organic learning?

I have come to learn that I had lost my initiative. When opportunities from creativity did come along, I panicked. I didn’t trust myself.

As a young teller (not teacher), I modelled this behaviour. My students were efficient, organised and high performing. However, this narrow path left no room for inspiration or initiative. When composing music, I was baffled when my students asked if they “sounded right” and if they could “fix them". My students did not lack the skills to compose but instead lacked the confidence to experiment, try new things and perhaps get things wrong.

I am changing my practice, but it is a work in progress. Now, I try to never answer a question. Instead I say “what do you think?” “what are your ideas?” “how would you approach this?” With these incremental changes, I hope my students will be the driving force of their own learning. I want to help them become curious, kind and fully human. I want to encourage them to make mistakes.

Education is not the filling of a bucket. It is the lighting of a fire. Instead of drowning our students in knowledge let's ignite their curiosity.