Ako

While studying abroad in New Zealand during college, I came across the Maori word ako, reflecting the inherent reciprocity of teaching and learning – the idea that both teachers and students can teach and can learn. It struck me as potentially the most important concept educators can remember when teaching, especially when teaching populations of students with very different backgrounds from their own. We as educators must embrace our own education everyday, which we receive from our students, our peers, administrators, community members, and ourselves. We have the unique profession in which real success is based solely on the outcomes of our students, and in order to best serve them we must continually reflect on and revise our own teaching.

A few months ago I found myself in conversation with some family members about my new job as a tutor at City on a Hill. In trying to explain why I love it so much, I let slip a confession – I actually feel bad for other recent college graduates, even those thriving in the “real world,” because they don’t have my job. My family was unconvinced that this could be true – being a tutor means long hours, low pay, school on Saturday mornings, and hours of lesson planning. To most, it doesn’t make sense.

I realize I have now joined the chorus of educators who continuously refer to the gratification in their work. When I started tutoring at City on a Hill, I couldn’t wait to find out what this gratification actually felt like. What does that ambiguous feeling of fulfillment truly mean? Would I feel it? Would it make the challenging work worth it?

I explained to my family that I am getting as much out of my job as I hope my students are; that I am embracing the idea of ako. The secret may be different for every educator, but as a first year tutor, I find gratification in knowing that as much as I can possibly teach my students, I will continually be surprised by what I learn from them.

Every tutorial class is different from the one before, and each brings fresh challenges requiring creativity and patience. I am getting to know my students’ unique personalities and dispositions and I am figuring out how to plan our classes to accommodate those. My students are teaching me how to motivate them each individually, how to make our lessons relevant, and how to help them achieve in school.  I am continually surprised  - by their intelligence, their wit, their attitudes, opinions, and pure unpredictability, which I am learning to embrace with an open mind.

I came to City on a Hill along a very different path from the students I teach. But acknowledging and appreciating the discrepancy in our experiences enables us to learn from each other. As I have been a successful student my entire life, helping my students who sometimes struggle has been challenging and at times frustrating. My students bring life experiences to which I have never before been exposed, and yet are as important to their education and mine as Shakespeare and the American Revolution. They teach me about themselves, their lives, and the way they see the world; which in turn teaches me about myself, and the way I see the world.

And so I explained to my family that while I am sure there are plenty of other rewarding jobs, I have found a community that embraces and encourages our ability as students and educators to continually grow and improve. As an educator at City on a Hill, I am systematically a part of the continual reform and improvement of the education we provide – a reflection of just how much every member of our school learns everyday.

There is no way to tell for sure that embracing the idea of ako is the key to helping students succeed, but I know that it is enabling all of us to become better citizens and life long students. I hope I can teach my students in a year as much as they have already taught me in the first quarter.

Emily McCaffrey is a first year CoaHCORPS Tutor at City on a Hill.  She received her B.A. from Boston University, where she studied Political Science, Education, and International Development.