Clarion Call

From The Desk Of The Retired Teacher

I sit here once again reflecting about this past weeks’ event, about the shootings at a spa  in Atlanta and the horror once again perpetuated at the “other.”  Othering  destroys. Haven’t we seen enough of that yet?

Now for awhile, before I can get back to subbing, I am sidelined, but not without voice. I think of how all this impacts our students, the youngest ones to college graduates and then beyond. Impact and learning go hand in hand, and that’s where I choose to use my voice.

So my clarion call, First Do No Harm. According to Merriam-Webster, clarion call: a strong request for something to happen -usually singular //He used his speech to sound a clarion call for affordable health care. //the leader’s clarion call to action

I believe that what we say, share or if we, “indoctrinate” with our perspectives leaves an indelible imprint on our students. All one has to do is sit at a table (lunch room, family table) wherever kids gather and listen to their conversations. From talking about peers, teachers, parents, governments, their world views, etc., they voice what they hear and try to understand (always my hope). No one is immune. If nothing else “bullying” certainly has shown us that. We need to know who we teach, their backgrounds and their diverse lived experiences. Home life now, more than before, on the “razor’s edge” because of the pandemic. Teach with love, respect and caring. Way more than curriculum is at stake now. Teachers once again have an added responsibility, how to keep our students’ emotionally and physically safe (as they try to explain more about hate, yet once again), without adding an unintentional burden.

We want to raise caring, understanding, Upstanders, with a voice.

With prose and poetry (maybe), here I add..

To right a wrong, causing harm,

Animosity, vilifying and othering.

Not what is needed.

But once again the hate is strong, even as “allyship” is spoken.

Parceling out to whom and why, once again unspoken.

So I am inclined to believe Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

      And Elie Wiesel

with their CLARION CALL.