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THE ART AND SCIENCE OF TEACHING
A letter from Judith Guild
Acquiring and maintaining an excellent faculty and staff is one of the most important roles of a head of school. While hiring is an important first step, properly onboarding and training new employees to uphold the School’s mission and practices is an ongoing and equally important process. Employing faculty and staff members who once attended our School helps the entire community retain and adhere to the important and often subtle tenets of a Brimmer education and sustains the unique and dynamic environment essential for learning. In this issue of Brimmer Magazine, you will read about the influence our faculty and staff, who were once Brimmer students themselves, have on the fabric of our community and its culture and climate. How we interact with students, the positive nature and importance of relationships, the special way curriculum is made relevant and interactive, and the value placed on our Core Values are often so subtle they are hard to teach and instill in others. To be successful, we use a team approach, and our alumni faculty and staff help us in this effort.
Experienced educators know that teaching is both an art and a science, and when done right, is a dynamic and fulfilling profession. School life requires a constant commitment to learning and selecting content, honing instructional practices that reach a variety of learners, and upholding standards of behavior and good character despite external pressures. There are always external pressures; most recently, the pandemic tested our profession. Our faculty and staff stood strong and prevailed despite the pandemic’s daily pressures because of their deep commitment to young people and their love for teaching. When I think of Brimmer’s faculty and staff, I am reminded of the words of author and educator Robert Fried, when he writes in The Passionate Teacher, “To be a passionate teacher is to be someone in love with a field of knowledge, deeply stirred by issues and ideas that challenge our world, drawn to the dilemmas and potentials of the young people who come into class each day—or captivated by all of these.” In this issue, you will read how our alumni faculty’s Brimmer role models ignited their passion to teach.
I find tremendous joy in watching a teacher interact with a student. As simple as that may sound, it is profoundly inspiring when imaginations are ignited, when questions are explored, and when work becomes a creation. To this end, our faculty and staff will explore a new theme this year that will help amplify the artful side of our profession. The theme Imagine. Question. Create. will help lead us through the year, and I am excited to see how this might impact our classrooms and programs. I hope as you read Brimmer Magazine, you will sense the power found in the interactions between students and their teachers and feel the impact our faculty members have on the art of teaching. ■
