My morning began with one of my Homebase students handing me a note. It had “please read” written on it. In the letter, she detailed her battle with anxiety and depression and asked that I inform the team teachers. I was astounded by the courage it must have taken to write and deliver that note so early in the school year. Previous experiences made me believe that students struggling with similar issues would do their best to blend into the crowd and try not to be noticed; that they would rather enter their shell and shut down than open up and share out. But not this student. This student chose courage over comfort. She embraced her vulnerability. She told her story and invited me in to help guide her journey.
This summer I was introduced to a Ted Talk by Dr. Brené Brown, a research professor and expert on vulnerability. In the talk, Dr. Brown discusses grappling with her own vulnerability and living wholeheartedly. I spent the rest of my summer and the beginning of the school year thinking about my own vulnerability and noticing when others allowed themselves to be “seen.”
Brené Brown | The Power of Vulnerability | TED Talk
As school started, I realized that we ask students to be vulnerable every day when we have them...
- Sit by someone new
- Attempt a task
- Read aloud
- Collaborate with peers
- Apply their knowledge
- Share an answer in front of the class
In her book Rising Strong Brené Brown shares, “vulnerability is not winning or losing; it’s having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome. Vulnerability is not weakness; it’s our greatest measure of courage.” There is comfort in fading into the crowd, in not being noticed. What made this student choose courage? I believe that key to her courageous act was the mentoring and modeling of vulnerability by a caring adult.
We model what we expect of our students.
When I ask them to read I model reading.
When I ask them to write I model writing.
When we ask them to follow expectations we model the expectations.
When we ask them to be kind and caring we model kind and caring.
Do we model vulnerability when we ask them to be vulnerable?
Twitter Tuesday Questions
- What gets in the way of students being vulnerable?
- What gets in the way of teachers being vulnerable?
- How can we model vulnerability for our students?
- What steps have you taken to create a learning environment in which students can be vulnerable?
- What is one way that you plan to embrace your vulnerability moving forward?
This is really well written, David. I am sharing it with my future teachers at NDSU. We are often so focused on preparing to teach content, that we don't think as deeply as we need to about mental health needs of our students and our important role in teaching the whole student.
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