I recently watched Moana with my children. I was stressed about the pressures teachers feel to perform daily in our classrooms. It was nice to sit and relax with the kids on the couch and watch a great Disney film. Then my mind started to focus on the the educational value of the film. I realized the Moana is a parable for our education system.
Moana represents our students, eager to learn, take risks and find adventure. Her parents represent parents that want to hold on to traditions, their children to be the same as them and experience a similar education system. Moana’s Grandmother represents the possibilities of our education systems to take students where they desire to go in life. Maui the Demi-god and Heihei the dim witted rooster represent our politicians. Maui has good intentions but is full of ego, wants to be praised for accomplishments instead of empowering others. Heihei follows misguided instincts even when others try to lead him in the right direction. The heart of the The ocean represents the value of education, which has been lost in our society. Moana is on a quest to restoring educational values and ridding our society of the demons Kakamora, The Realm of Monsters and Te Ka. These demons represent our societies value systems currently. Kakamora are the “haters” and “trolls” the extoll negatives towards anything and feel they are always right. The Realm of Monsters is social media that loves the shiny and bright of entertainment disregarding knowledge. Te Ka is our government influenced by the Kakamora and Realm of Monsters focusing on blame and angry public opinion.
It is a hard battle for Moana and she needs the help of her Grandmother for guidance and Maui for strength. Just like our students need teachers to guide and our legislative bodies to pass laws that empower our students to be successful. Our students and their needs must be the guides. Educators need to work with legislators to help them focus on our students needs or they will focus too much on their ego (Maui) or on their own misguided instincts (Heihei).
It is time for us to return the heart of education where it should be. Our society needs to value the educational system and educators. The Kakamora are allowed too much voice currently. We can’t let them dominate the educational landscape and control the heart of education with their blame and punish attitude. As educators we have to be stedfast in guiding our students to the heart with consistent encouragement. Time for legislators to listen to our students voice and drop their egos and misguided instincts.
Sweat to Inspire 