The school year is two-thirds over, and I’m pausing. It’s March break, and I look back at last September, when the whole academic year was ahead of me, and it seemed daunting.
To be accurate, I’m pausing from a pause, a temporary stop in my retirement. A temporary stop along the path of life, having returned to work for this school year.
My time back in the workforce has re-taught me something I already knew, that I enjoy being part of a social group, all striving and working together. I’ve missed being part of a group of teachers and students struggling and muddling through the twists and turns of an academic year. Witnessing students trying their best at living their adolescent lives, watching teachers trying their best to teach, to better understand their students, and to survive the sometimes emotionally charged environment of a school. Teaching and learning often compete with each other, when students’ preferences for learning exist outside of the classroom experience.
Education is a valiant endeavour, a huge social experiment, dynamic and never-ending. And no matter how seasoned a teacher is, there is likely to be a new challenge with every child that steps through the door.
In a few months, I will un-pause and remove the fermata from my retirement. I will look back on this time with nostalgia, no doubt, knowing that this pause gave me an opportunity to reimagine my retirement. With a tiny bit of regret, but a huge amount of appreciation, i will return to the open book, the unstructured time, and the life imagined.
