Teachers Off the Script

“If you can have high school teachers who are able to live with excitement and passion and growth-is-the-norm, then you put a really healthy model in front of the students. ”

Chris Ellsasser, director of studies

The following is Director of Studies Chris Ellsasser ’ s response when asked: “What does it do for our teachers to be able to teach beyond a standard curriculum more deeply into areas of their own expertise and interest—and what impact does that flexibility have on our students?”

The big question for me is,

“What ’ s the purpose of high school?” It cannot be to develop expertise in certain areas; that ’ s what happens in college. It ’ s not to provide kids with really basic skills; that ’ s what elementary school does. And middle school is where students first encounter the content disciplines in more depth.

In high school you have kids who are optimistic, who are, in some ways, adults without cynicism, and their big question is: “What does it mean to be an adult?” They don ’ t really want to be their parents and they don ’ t really want to be their peers. Their teachers, however, whom they know really well as adults —but not friends—provide perfect potential role models.

If they see teachers who are following the rules and a scripted curriculum delivered in a factory model, then that suggests what will happen when they grow up. But if you can have high school teachers who are able to live with excitement and passion and growth-is-the-norm, then you put a really healthy model in front of the students to show that adults work hard in pursuit of their genuine interests. role is to surround the kids with as many intrinsically motivated, hard-working adults as possible and let them interact with each other. It ’ s about the relationships between students and their teachers, and the curriculum can foster that by leaving it open for teachers to teach in response to their students. You have adults who are enthusiastic and excited to get up every morning—and that ’ s the gestalt that surrounds the kids, which makes school a healthy, engaging place of discovery and growth.

I think that is what high school is about—a holistic educational experience. Maybe kids don ’ t decide they want to be scientists after taking Steve Engstrom ’ s Limnology class or politicians after experiencing Nukes with John Curran, but if they are surrounded by passionate people, they say: “I want to be as excited about what I do as my teachers are in what they do. I want to be as invested in my job and my life as my teachers are in theirs. ”

I would hope that a teacher sees his or her job as a vocation, a calling—so much more than just a job. And when you have kids surrounded by adults with vocations, it sets forth the model that growing up means pursuing your passion and living a balanced life driven by curiosity and opportunities to have a positive impact on the world and others. That is one of the most important lessons that we can provide for them.