About NML
No Magic Lecture is a blog about teaching, learning, and living alongside young children, though the principles here apply to all learners (including you!). Creating a meaningful life with children is about holding a vision and seeing it through together. The phrase “No Magic Lecture” means there is no one perfect thing that must make or break a moment, a behavior, a child, family, or classroom. It’s a reminder, reprieve, and an invitation. Welcome.
“No Magic Lecture is a phrase I learned over a long, often painful period as a developing teacher, but it’s not just an axiom for educators - it’s about finding perspective in the challenges of an expansive world. It is short for “There is no magic lecture that will fix this forever.” These words have echoed in my mind over countless bad days and hard moments, unruly circle times, tantrums, shoe losses, and no shortage of classroom failures. It is, for lack of a less appropriative term, a mantra I am still fiddling with. It soothes, taunts, cajoles, and saves me when I have lost my perspective, either as a teacher or an adult who lives alongside young children…
… While we can generally agree that adults do not take kindly to being lectured, we do this to children all the time. We expect their tacit agreement because most of us were taught that adults not only have natural authority but are the authority on living, learning, and being in the world. That’s a setup for everyone to fail. Not maintaining control and power becomes a sign of weakness. So, in order to meet this foolhardy, if not cruel, expectation, what do most people do? Double down. Get tough, frustrated, and cynical about those around them. For parents and teachers, this mutual failure to meet expectations damages the relationships we most want to nurture. “Kids these days” is an easy trap to fall into when we reenact this cycle. It is not a solution.
The answer is consistency. It’s holding a positive, realistic set of beliefs about children and striving to act on those beliefs. To be sure, that is a tall order, a difficult task when viewed on the scale of life, but manageable when we see it as just a million little micro-moments stacked up to make something bigger and healthier out of the time we spend together. That’s the real makeup of an education. That’s a life. But just now, let’s take a breath and remember: There is no magic lecture.”
Read more from the post “There Is No Magic Lecture.”
About Micah Card
Micah Card is a writer and educator in Santa Cruz, CA. She believes in the power of children, thinking deeply and critically, and reminding ourselves that the point of all this is to grow.
To learn more about Micah’s work and credentials, click here.
*photo by Missi Hostrup Photography