Putting Your Own Oxygen Mask On First


by Julie A. Abeyta, Ed.D.

     "If you are traveling with small children or others needing assistance, please put your own oxygen mask on first before assisting others." 

     This is a hard direction for educators to follow. We are conditioned to consider the needs of our students first.  If they succeed, we succeed; if they fail, we fail.  But the airline industry has long known that if you pass out while trying to help others, you will be of no use to anyone.  Today’s educators must be responsible for their own professional development to better serve their students.

     Let’s consider why we boarded the airplane in the first place.  NCLB has directed that 100% of our children become proficient in reading and math, but these skills are merely the supplies we will need when we arrive at our destination.      Look around your schools, on the walls of the central office, and in your literature.  Somewhere, prominent in a mission statement or guiding principle, is reference to developing life-long learners.  We don’t want to graduate students who are simply proficient, we want to mold our naturally curious children into responsible citizens who are contributing members of our democratic society.  Dare we as educators expect any less than life-long learning from ourselves?

     The journey to developing life-long learners will certainly encounter turbulence along the way.  Like many states, Nevada must adapt to changing demographics and the increasing needs of special student populations, including English language learners, special education students, and gifted and academically talented students.  Most of southern Nevada has been experiencing uncontrolled growth for longer than the seventeen years that I have lived in the Las Vegas Valley.  In its wake, growth has left behind overcrowded schools, teacher shortages, and a highly-transient student population. 

     So why not put on our parachutes and bail out?  Some educators do.  Disillusioned neophyte and transplanted teachers sometimes return to their home states or leave teaching altogether.  Experienced educators choose early retirements or more lucrative positions in other industries.  But many of us stay on board, remembering why we embarked on the journey in the first place.   We love working with children.  We love learning.  We want to make a difference in the world.

     And we do.  Every day.  One child at a time.

     The tools and technology to help us on our educational journey are evolving.  Differentiated instruction, flexible scheduling, brain-based instruction, mentoring, professional learning communities, multiple intelligences, and curriculum mapping have become commonplace in our conversations about teaching and learning.  As life-long learners we should strive to know as much as we can about advances in our profession.

     If, in spite of the turbulence and uncertainty, you’re still interested in continuing your journey, grab that oxygen mask that’s dangling from the overhead compartment and breathe easier.  See what ASCD has to offer.