Authenticity

• Real. Genuine. Truthful. These are all words that come to mind when I think of authenticity. While being authentic is important, there are also limits to being authentic. When being authentic one must be original but not too original. Now while that sounds silly, but basically what it comes down too is your authenticity cannot effect other people in the process. Especially in a school setting there are lots of opportunities for children to be authentic. However, there are also many chances for children to not be authentic by cheating, bulling, and other malicious activities.

Teachers also need to limit their authenticity by staying true to themselves. What I mean by this is that teachers should never force authenticity. They should never do all sorts of original and crazy activities or learning methods just to say that they did. It needs to come naturally and should never seem fake.


Which leads into the next question that should be addressed. What are the ramifications for learning if a teacher is seen as a "fake" or not authentic with students? There are a lot of ramifications when it comes to learning. If a students feels like their teacher is not being genuine, then the students learning will be effected. The student will shut down mentally and it will put the child's learning in jeopardy.


I remember one time in the fifth grade, my teacher Mr. Strobbe was not genuine to our class. He was trying to discipline a couple of kids who were caught making fun of another classmate. However, while Mr. Strobbe was trying to discipline the students who were putting small x's on people's hands to protect them from this other student, Mr. Strobbe was not taking the situation seriously enough. I remember him joking with the young boys about their cult against. He was constantly making jokes about the situation but still trying to make these kids apology to the class.


From then on this girl, I just remember this girl having more and more problems in school. While this girl was already social awkward to begin with but after this incident when Mr. Strobbe did not show authenticity things for her seemed to go downhill and she eventually left our school district. 


Since then I have always wondered what happened to Kimberly Council. I wonder what would of happen if Mr. Strobbe would of took the bulling more seriously or if I would of stood up for what was right. 


All in all, authenticity is important in our schools but like everything else in the world, it is good in moderation and should be done with caution.