Ian Renga - Middle School Science, Mathematics, and Life Skills

I feel fortunate to have started my teaching career during a period of great change in education. As I understand it, the traditional practice of education generally places teachers between students and the proverbial “sea of knowledge” to authoritatively dole out information to students, who are viewed as empty vessels. Lately, however, this imagery has changed as that sea of knowledge has grown and become more readily accessible for investigation by improvements in technology (i.e. the internet). It seems that we are now, quite literally, flooded with information and are at risk of drowning in it! The role of the teacher, therefore, seems to be changing from one of giving information towards one of assisting students to navigate the information in which they are already immersed.

This is a role that I really enjoy, and I employ two broad practices to fulfill its requirements. The first is to help students to develop tools for navigating the informational sea through practices of inquiry, like reading, writing, and conversation. Occasionally, I lead forays into personally and publicly valued waters like civics, ecology, and math so that, at the very least, students will find such waters familiar enough to warrant further exploration. Overall, however, it is more important to me that students know how to pursue and critically examine interests and ideas in a particular subject than to just "know" the subject. The second practice I employ is to facilitate the development of relationships. I strongly believe that the value of our knowledge is measured by how well we use it to develop our relationships with others and ourselves. I hope that by remaining focused on these two practices I can be a guide who provides honest and caring support for students amidst the exciting yet potentially overwhelming swell of information in this new century.