Educator or Liberator?

During one of the sessions at the AWSA Elementary Principals Conference this week, Associate Executive Director Joe Schroeder wondered aloud: “Am I an educator or a liberator?”

He shared his trip to Rome with his wife as a source of this inquiry. Viewing the marble sculpture David by Michelangelo, he found the following quote attributed to the artist: “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”

In other words, Michelangelo saw something special in a block of stone. He believed in what was possible instead of what it was not.

Our tools are different. We influence learners through our language, our behaviors, the way we structure the environment so everyone can reach personal success.

Yet the idea is the same: Our purpose is to help others realize their own potential. We liberate what’s possible, what was already there. When we do that, we also liberate ourselves.

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