Summer 2007

Teachers and Teaching

Empowering young heroes

Ever since I can remember, I wanted to be a hero. I would run around pretending to be Superman wearing little more than a cape and my sister’s red underpants. Then at age 11, I was inspired by my grade 6 ‘Superteacher’. He changed my life through empowering me to develop the self-belief that I could one day be an inspiration too. I now use this same philosophy of student empowerment in my own teaching practice.

Empowerment is simply defined in the dictionary as ‘to give power to’. Educationally, for me, this is a philosophy in which I provide real-life opportunities that ignite, inspire and excite individual students to take responsibility for their learning and achievement. From recording their own music CDs to starting a school radio station, I have always tried to make learning motivating and empowering.

Research by educationalist Seth Kreisberg (1992) confirms the empowerment of an individual is indeed deeply connected to that of his or her community. In an Enterprise unit for example, students learn to run their own business, designing, constructing and selling products for charity, with local community shareholders helping cover start up costs.

But what really empowered my class was the opportunity to be real-life heroes, through helping others less fortunate. The $600 profit raised by these 24 children was donated to a school whose library was destroyed in Cyclone Larry. What empowering educational practice it was for the children to be recognised in the media for contributing to the learning of another school community.

Individual student empowerment has also been my focus. One child was always the talk of the teachers—for all the wrong reasons. He was suspended, banned from lunchtime play, removed from the class daily for violent outbursts, and then moved into my class.

Through empowering this boy to use his deeply hidden talents and passion for rodeo and dirt bikes, he wrote for the first time about his adventures and dreams to be a rodeo hero. He was so proud, and so was I.

He went on to write and perform a rap song with his group in front of an invited audience including an NQ Cowboy, parents, family, local business and community members, and news reporters. This performance was on the TV news, in the newspaper and the NQ Cowboys videoed it for inclusion in their presentations across the state. This boy, who for years had been disempowered, was empowered to see himself as a hero.

As educationalist Ken Reavis suggests, ‘No matter how tough we believe these children are, we need to remember that we are very powerful influences on them.’ I would add that to some we are that ‘Superteacher’. If we apply empowering practice during the 15,000 hours we have with children from prep through to year 12, I really do believe we have a powerful opportunity to positively change their lives. We may not be able to jump tall buildings in a single bound, but we can all be that ‘Superteacher’.

Daniel Broadfoot was nominated for a NEiTA award while teaching at Bluewater State School, Townsville Qld.

The author owns the copyright in this article. For information related to the reuse of this work in any form please contact the publisher denise.quinn@curriculum.edu.au