Education & Hope

Yesterday I attended the Tempo conference in Winnipeg. For those of you who are music educators or learning to become one, I highly encourage that you go! This was my first year going, and I am kicking myself for not finding the time to go in years past. The keynote speaker was Dr. Boonshaft and one thing in particular that he discussed stuck in my brain. He mentioned a quote that goes as follows:            "Education is fundamentally an imaginative act of hope" (Purkey & Novak) 

This statement neatly sums up how I view education. Teaching is an art, and it requires immense creativity and imagination to do well. 
 Now, hope on the other hand. This is crucial to what we do. You see the potential in each student, and you hope that they reach it. You hope that what you do helps them to achieve their potential. You hope that each day you make a difference in a child's life. You hope that you never become callous, bitter, or cynical about your profession. In every bad day, the hope that tomorrow will be better is what keeps you going. 
  It also is not enough to simply hope. The quote states education as an "act of hope". We do not stop at hoping, we act on that hope. Teaching requires that you act to make what you hope happen. And that is what we do every time we step into a classroom. That is why teaching is my passion.