Teaching Teens, and the Adolescent Brain
I spent the past few days sick while attending a course on how to teach teens mindfulness and yoga. Yoga, for me, has always been an extremely private practice that I do not share with people. I don't take photos of myself doing yoga, neither do I usually invite people to practice with me. About the latter, after a while I grew to realise it was more of my deep-seated insecurities about my body and the "teacher" in me who always wants to share something that I learnt battled with that.
Anyway, back about teens... I know I will be working with teens as a history teacher, and I am trying to consolidate what I have learnt the past few days (their psychology, biology/ hormones that is going on inside them). On one hand there is always a fear of losing the rigour of history, the argument and perhaps never-wanting-to-lose competitive streak that the subject hones in us. And I am trying to see where can the balance be. Would a rigorous curriculum and teaching ethic for the subject, while being a compassionate teacher (as a human being) help balance the nature of history as a subject?
Also, why does history have to be so tough upon its students? A professor once told me that I was ready to graduate because I was starting to become very sceptical about things. Being sceptical is good and can be transferable to other skill sets - planning of events and its contingency plans, being prepared for the worst, more critical eye when we meet people and the things that people may say about themselves... It all sounds very negative sometimes, doesn't it? Like a constantly doubtful and frowning individual that people are perhaps afraid to be judged by.
Perhaps, it is okay to be sceptical. And maybe that on its own can be a learning point for everyone too. How are we to present our harshest opinions while not being too hard on the people we tell it to - that perhaps, is a life lesson on its own as we as human beings never like to be the presenter of negative news.