“To reiterate a theme that runs throughout this chapter, schools that promote identity development are rich in engaging activities in which students can invest their psychic energy, and they value the role of the relationships at all levels of learning. Good teachers teach their subject matter well; great teachers engage students in the learning tasks of the moment and instill in them the desire to keep learning long after graduation.

Teachers who have this kind of impact do more than impart knowledge; they engage their students, they relate to them, and in turn they foster their students’ relationship to learning. The act of engagement is the key to identity development in schools, as elsewhere. This act can occur in classrooms between teacher and pupil, in gymnasiums between coach and player, in hallways among friends, and in the guidance office between counselor and future college applicant. Engagement that has the greatest impact tends to be reciprocal.” (p. 19, Michael Nakkula, “Identity and possibility: Adolescent Development and the potential of schools.”)

This passage resonated with me because I think the best kind of learning happens when there is relational trust between the teacher and student and when the learning truly is reciprocal. Nakkula’s words reminded me of Paulo Freire’s “problem-posing” education model vs. a “banking” education model. A banking educational model, according to Freire, is one in which the students are seen as empty vessels that are to be filled with knowledge, facts, and information. Learning under this model is not reciprocal, and I would imagine would not lead to any sort of relational trust among teachers and students. Reversely, Freire’s problem-posing education model is one in which the teacher sees herself in partnership with her students and considers herself learning as much from the students as the students learn from her. I think problem-posing education encompasses the kind of engagement Nakkula references in the passage above. Rather than filling students up with information and sending them on their way into the world, the type of engagement Nakkula refers to creates life-long students, individuals with a true relationship to learning. If I were a teacher, I would hope to foster this kind of relationship to learning among my students.