Who's Driving?

Ah, yes! The 80s were a wonderful time.
Here I am with my two brothers (I'm the one in the middle) standing in front of the trusty old station wagon. We're ready to pack in to go on another wild family trip.

"Where are we going, Dad?" I'd ask.
"Crazy!" He'd say, and quickly follow up with, "You're driving me!"

I was always excited that Dad was going to let me drive, but he never did.
He would always get behind the wheel, my brothers and I would cram in the back seat, and Mom would take the front passenger seat.

There were no cell phones or navigation devices. There were piles of maps. Some came in spiral bound books. Others were giant folding maps. They were so big that when they unfolded, you couldn't see out the windshield. And they could never be folded back properly  once they were unfolded.

Dad always preferred to take what he called "the scenic route." Mom would entertain Dad's tiny excursions, but she would always get us back on course. If it weren't for Mom, we'd probably never have reached our intended destination.

It makes you question who was actually doing the driving.

***

A current buzzword in education is "student-driven."
I think some educators feel threatened by the word and resist it with all of their might.
There can only be one person in the driver's seat.
If the student is in the driver's seat, that means the teacher is not.
Some educators feel that it's just one more thing that they've lost control of.

Well, maybe the teacher's role isn't to be in the driver's seat.
Maybe our role is to be the navigator.
And like Mom, we can allow drivers to take the scenic route.
Always ready for the excursions.
Always there to guide them back on course.