The writer Frederick Buechner defines vocation as “the place where our deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.” Education is my vocation. Learning together, especially with young people, to engage thoughtfully, rigorously, and gladly with real issues—social, political, and scientific—is the most critical and exciting work I know.

And yet, the word “educator” isn’t always used in ways that capture “the world’s deep need.” While I believe people can and should cultivate their own areas of interest, dominant culture sometimes uses education to separate and build unnecessary hierarchies between “people who know” and “people who don’t,” including between teachers and students. If I look honestly at the decisions that “people who know” make on their own, I am humbled. I come to see the separation of people into those who educate and those who need to be educated as part of the problem.

On days when the words “educator” and “teacher” leave a bad taste in my mouth, I try “facilitator”. To me, a facilitator is a person who assists others in becoming who and what they are called to be in this time and place. I try to help others listen for where their deep gladness meets the world’s deep need. I facilitate meetings, conversations, events, project design, writing, and more in ways that maximize the learning of all parties, including myself. I am at my best as an educator when I picture myself as a co-learner, a thought partner, a constructive critic, an accountabili-buddy—in short, a facilitator.

Read more about my work as an educator/facilitator here:

• Climate Justice Educator (including with the MA Youth Climate Coalition and Clean Water Action)
• Facilitator (including with the MA Youth Climate Coalition and Heart-to-Heart)
• Biology Teacher (including Explainer Youtube Channel and Literacy Rubrics)