The following is an excerpt from Ernest Morrell鈥檚 Presidential Address at the 2014 起点传媒Annual Convention.
What鈥檚 love got to do with it?
Everything.
Everything.
It鈥檚 a term that we do not like to talk about.
It鈥檚 not 鈥渟cience-y鈥� like pedagogy which is a cool term because it鈥檚 got 鈥渙-g-y鈥�.
The curriculum.
The lesson plans.
The amazing diverse literature that you put in someone鈥檚 hands, means nothing if you do not love them.
And think about what that means. What does that revolutionary love mean when it鈥檚 manifested by an English teacher?鈥hat you believe in them.
That them failing is you failing.
You know, I think about this all the time. I have three children and I send my children to school and I don鈥檛 expect, you know, 6:30 in the morning that their love is going to be right here and then 9 o鈥檆lock in the morning it鈥檚 going to dip down here while I鈥檓 at work, and my wife鈥檚 at work.
You better love my children.聽Because they deserve it 24-7.
We don鈥檛 like to talk about this term, but think about it. You are operating in the public trust.聽The public trust.
How many hours do I leave my children with other people, expecting my children to feel loved in the same way as they would in their own home? I, like the parents of the other 50 million children who are in the school system.
Love has everything to do with it. It doesn鈥檛 work without love.
So it鈥檚 important for us to think about that and I will end with a quote from a dear mentor to me, Asa Hilliard. He said:
鈥淚 have never encountered any children in any group who are聽not geniuses. There is no mystery on how to teach them. The first thing you do is treat them like human beings and the second thing you do is love them.鈥�