I vividly remember the first time I enrolled in a class only to discover my teacher to be younger than I. As a mother in my early thirties, I had enrolled in a creative writing course at Brunswick Junior College (now The College of Coastal Georgia). Much to my surprise upon attending my first class, I had not one, but two teachers, both still in their twenties.
Married, they demonstrated the highly touted technique of team teaching. He might present a directive while his wife offered anecdotes for illustration. Like speed skaters smoothly changing lanes, they would easily reverse roles. My surprise at such young teachers turned out to be a pleasant one, and they introduced me to the editor who would offer me my first job writing features.
Of course, having graduated from college at age 20, I wasn’t much older than my students in my first teaching assignment at South Oak Cliff High School in Dallas, Texas. More than once in the beginning, I was mistaken for a student by several of the older faculty members. To counter that problem, I ended up wearing high heels to work every day. However, when I counseled a student who was already a mother to two children, I wondered what in the world could I ever teach her.
Listening to our children
I was older and wiser when I returned to the classroom in Wayne County. However, I began to observe my students more closely and allowed them to show me how best to teach them both as a class and individually. I knew the subject material to teach, but by their responses, I soon learned what methods worked best in each class. When I was teaching three classes of freshman honors English back-to-back, I might teach the same material in a different manner each period just because of class make-up.
Learning to listen to my students was an important lesson for me to learn.
Let me take learning from someone younger a step farther. When our son was in high school, he was a student employee at The Press-Sentinel and I directed his assignments. Today, he runs the newspaper. If you really want to learn from someone younger, work for one of your own children. He and the editor assign features for me to write. Both edit, advise and suggest. Their input keeps me up-to-date. Every day, I learn something new. I am grateful and I delight in this role reversal with one of my children.
Seeking a mentor
As I have said on many occasions in this column, I have great respect for mentorship, a one on one teacher/student relationship. I think everyone, regardless of field, can benefit from the experience and wisdom of a mentor, an expert in whatever field. While I have studied and learned under a number of fine instructors, the late novelist, Elizabeth Bowne, continually introduced me to new insights in the field of writing. Over the years, our relationship evolved from teacher/student to friends, yet I continued to benefit from her expertise. She was older than I.
Thus it was with great interest that I read a blurb, “Find a Younger Mentor” by jewelry sales representative Carolyn Zerr in More Magazine. Zerr writes, “After 30 years as a massage therapist, I knew I liked working one on one with people, but I didn't know anything about jewelry sales. When I started selling products... I got a mentor and that was huge.
“Brenda and I talked every week for my first six months. She gave me all the how-to: words to use, invitations to send, ideas for displaying the jewelry. She's more than 20 years younger than I am and I still tease her, I want to be you when I grow up. With her help, I discovered that I knew more than I thought I did. In our sixties, we are a composite of everything we have ever done and all our life experiences.”
In starting a second career, Zerr deliberately sought out professional advice from an expert in the field. In this instance and in many similar situations, the expert happened to be younger than the beginner. Through this upside down relationship, these two women have also forged a friendship.
Learning every day
With school starting this week, the learning process obviously will be directed by teachers and administrators who are older than their students. That is a given. However for educators, parents, anyone gainfully employed, seeking work or retired, the learning process should not end with adulthood. Whenever we think we know all there is to know about any given subject, we know nothing.
On the occasion of his death, numerous memorials praised retired baseball player Tony Gwynn, considered one of the all time top hitters in his sport. One commentator stated that Gwynn had said that he went into every game and every practice seeking to learn something new about baseball every day. That was his attitude long before he joined the Major Leagues; that was his attitude for the 20 seasons he played professional ball. That desire to learn anew continued to guide his retirement years.
This outlook probably helps to explain Gwynn’s career success. It also should challenge every adult, especially those who have daily contact with our young. None of us should ever think we’ve reached the point that we know all we need to know.
Too often, far too many people spout nonsense out of sheer ignorance or personal whims. Whenever they do, I am always reminded of a former yearbook student assigned to interview administrators about a persistent rumor at WCHS. After his interview where he encountered a simple, logical explanation, he told me, “It’s always so much easier to complain than to explain.”
When we aren’t learning daily, we stagnate and lag behind. In addition to staying current in our jobs, learning something new each day improves our overall lives in multiple ways. Amazingly, our youth always know when we adults pretend to be in the know.
2014
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