The Darth Vader of Education

@MrLeBrun Empire Strikes Back is on Spike now. Who/what is your Darth Vader of Ed? (Totally geekier over your themed post btw)
— Kate Baker (@KtBkr4) January 5, 2014

"Who/what is your Darth Vader of Ed?"

It was a simple enough question. A couple of geeks just chatting about an analogy that, in the long run, means very little. But it was enough to get me thinking about perceptions, responsibilities, villains, and victims. A one word answer could not suffice. I found that 140 characters couldn't begin to contain my thoughts on this one (a common trend for my loquacious self).

Vader, for those of you who don't know, was the face of evil for 95% of the three Star Wars movies. (Sure sure. I heard they made more, but let's be real - Jar Jar Binks belonged in a Star Wars movie just the way grilled cheese sandwiches should be used as the bun for a cheeseburger. You can, but you shouldn't.) But I digress. Lord Vader was a Jedi gone bad. He was as awesome as you could be, and then went directly in the opposite direction, so it seemed, as far as he could go. Spoiler alert, he ended up being conflicted when faced with putting down a member of the family, so maybe he wasn't all-the-way all the way evil. Then he died as a result of protecting one of his own.

Put that all together and we're left with some compelling ideas of just who, in the American Education system, is the equivalent of Vader. He or she would have to be:

1. A former amazing educator of Jedi-like amazingness who has moved into corporate/reform-y world (that world is the empire trying to exercise its control over the local rebel alliance. After all, the emperor doesn't talk about a peaceful, harmonious universe, comfortable in all its diversity; he insists that once Luke has crossed to dark side, they will "control" the universe.):
          One of the complaints in my PLN about the people who are labeled "big names in the future of education" is that these lists are generally comprised of people who are not really in education. This is difficult to pinpoint amazing educators who went in this direction because amazing educators understand the value of teaching is the rapport you develop with the students in front of you and how that changes from class to class and year to year. I have come across very few amazing educators who went reformy.

2. Nightmarish for those who were trying to be awesome:
          Any non educator making education decisions. (This includes all educators with minimal meaningful classroom experiences who move into Ed Management.)

3. Loyal to someone or something left behind:
          Teachers fit this bill. Generally it's old-guard teachers who are nervous about being replaced by technology, so they cling to the old ways that they know. But young teachers are guilty of this as well. Young teachers often look back at their own education and try to replicate it rather than being confident enough in the power of what they've developed to innovate, take risks, and push students beyond their own memories of what learning was like.

4. Willing to turn back around even at the risk of being destroyed by the side they are now betraying:
          This sounds a lot like Diane Ravitch. She is the nonstop target of ed reformers as a person protecting the status quo and poor teachers who put our students at risk. All this despite her involvement in the development and implementation of NCLB.

So who is Vader? Just as there isn't one answer to what we can do to improve student achievement across the board, there isn't one Vader. Each of us have the power of the force within us. We can choose to harness the energy and work toward a better world for each of the students we meet. If we do not keep this energy positive and find our confidence, Yoda's sage advice finds its way into our classrooms. 

"Fear leads to anger; anger leads to hate; hate leads to suffering." 

If teachers are fearful, they will begin to feel anger about their vocation, if they feel that anger, they will begin to resent those around them (teachers with better classes, their students for making them feel this way, their bosses for the demands placed on them, and finally -the worst - themselves for allowing their life to get to such a point.) Once they've reached that level of resentment, everyone involved in their lives begins to suffer.

So use the force, and let your students see it in you. This will create the next wave of great thinkers who realize that knowing students as individual people is the best way for us all to continue moving forward.