I started teaching for my second semester this week.

I never really considered myself the teacher type, nor would I consider myself an expert in design (the subject I’m teaching). I had a grand elusion of my class resembling that of Robyn Williams’ in “Dead Poets Society”, but much to my dismay, it wasn’t. It wasn’t bad, it just didn’t live up to the idealistic version I had before I figured out that teaching is difficult. And not only is teaching difficult, but trying to capture college kids into something as abstract as graphic design theory is almost impossible…All of these things led me to really consider what it is that I have to offer students. I’m not much older, can’t spell as well as they probably can, I have a degree and a few years of experience under my belt…but this all seemed pretty shallow.

And in reality it is.

After being sad for a bit, I dove into the question, how can I engage the things I that make me uniquely me to help my students learn? I started asking myself why I thought teaching had to be left to the experts and elderly. I thought, isn’t teaching (defined here as, showing or explaining someone how to do something) more resembling an instinct than a trade? My dad taught me how to fish without being credentialed, old, or an expert.

It was shortly after this simple point that I realized, why myself and everyone else should look for moments to teach and be taught and why we have a great opportunity to remedy a lot of social issues if we assume our responsibility to educate.

For the sake of this conversation, I am going to aim this mostly at creative types, but please know that it translates to anyone.

One thing I remember about elementary school was that I really succeeded at some subjects, and didn’t at others. I think this had very little to do with my teachers, and a lot to do with how the system is set up. I was one of those kids who drew on my homework regularly as a way to stay engaged and entertain myself. Looking back, I saw the world in color and shapes and could process things very well when it came to the mediums that invited that. I loved science and history, and despised math and grammar. As an adult not much has changed, I thrive on story and art, and grimace at numbers and punctuation. I see their place, and it’s vital, but because I never learned to comprehend these things and more importantly utilize them well, I default to feeling more intimidated by them.

I’m sure a lot of you can relate one way or the other.

I really believe that we are so adamantly split on these things, because they were split up for us from the beginning. In our classes art has no place in math, and grammar has no place in story and as a result we cling to the things we understand and run from that which we don’t. For example, my boss does not believe art has an important place in the world, but thinks that math is greatest thing ever, because there is always a logical answer…I couldn’t see things more differently.

This is where I believe the “system” is flawed. Education is built on a structure that separates education into seemingly logical compartments that result in the isolation of students who process things differently. Succeeding in that which they understand and failing that in which they don’t.

In looking for a way to remedy my small corner of academia, I ran across a few articles that brought up some key issues and highlighted schools that were attempting some exciting new methods. What these progressive institutions are learning is that the more creativity, collaboration, play and project based learning students are given, the more they succeed. Using companies like Google, Ideo and Pixar as models to fashion the classroom into a place where the art nerd and the math geek leveraged each others strengths, applied their weaknesses and all the while developed new skills.

If you have the time watch this video about a really bitchin school.

Here’s my challenge to you and I. Let’s look for opportunities to add flexibility to the office or classroom to incorporate more creativity, play and collaboration. Look for opportunities to teach. Don’t worry about being the best at something, focus on what it is you have to offer and learning from those who offer something different. The result will be beautiful.

I really think/hope we’re going to start seeing more of this all over the place, and hopefully the more we incorporate these models, the more we can elevate pressure on our schools and develop educated, equipped minds who greatly contribute to society.