How can a classroom be transformed into a sacred space?
“School” as we’ve known it have undergone immense upheaval from March 2020 through June 2021. Students, families, and school staff members weathered multiple evolutions, leaving us to ponder, as we look to the future, the question posed above.
Learning remotely, in an alternate day format, or live, in-person every day, we can quickly realize, that, for many classrooms are sacred spaces.
I used to say, “Leave your troubles at the front door. Come to school (one and all), to be who you want to become.”
Really, I used to say that. About kids and teachers alike.
Because, in most cases, before March 2020, we could (all) do that.
But I’ve since stopped. Because no one wants to hear those words, when the reality is, that society has come crashing through the front doors of every school, every where. This leaves educators with an enormous responsibility.
The good news is, teachers are built for this work. As we face school openings across the country and the globe on into the 2020’s, the challenge becomes embracing this opportunity, to create “sacred spaces” in our classrooms.
Will we capitalize on this? Will we take for granted the second chance to re-establish this and for some, to get this right the second time?
This idea scares me, as well as gives me hope. As I think back to the care I put into establishing my own classroom, now some two decades ago, and the classrooms I visit every day, I wonder, how will educators approach this in 2021–22?
Let’s establish what a “sacred classroom space” is.
In a sacred classroom:
students feel safe and secure, because the supervising adult has taken intentional measures to establish details supporting this.
students feel a sense of belonging, and that their names and stories are known, respected, honored, and kept as private as they prefer.
students feel a sense of respect, which leads to mutual respect, which leads to a classroom culture that embraces respect.
students’ are listened to, are asked questions and follow-up questions, and their ideas are valued and their voices, celebrated.
students are members of a community that understands that no one is perfect, mistakes are a part of learning, and progress is most important.
These were difficult, if not impossible to establish with any degree of consistency, while accessing a Zoom link or Google Classroom.
Why not take this first giant step when we return to school in-person?
Learn, with students and from students, the art of dialogue.
Face-to-face, voice-to-voice, and with (or preferably) without any form of artificial means of communication (technology) in our hands or at our finger tips.
Circle up. Ask a question.
And listen.
And revel in the silence or the voices that fill the space of a sacred classroom.