The Hierophant - Learning and Sharing with Other Teachers

There are quite a few cards in the tarot deck that are about forging your own path, like the Fool for example. The Hierophant, however, isn't one of them! This card is actually about institutions, traditions, beliefs, and tried and true methods. The Pope symbol in the card is a reminder of religious institutions, but the overall meaning has to do with tried and true methods that have been working for society for a long time. Many people find this card incredibly boring or very hard to connect with, but as a teacher, I think the message of the Hierophant is pretty awesome and something that we should listen to much more often.

One would think that the spirit of collaboration and unity would be alive and well in the teaching community, and maybe it is in some schools, but I'm not really feeling that spirit currently in the school where I teach. Morale is at an all-time low and besides working with my team twice a week, teaching feels extremely solitary to me at the moment. I'm not sure if it is because we are forced to work in interdisciplinary teams or because our department meetings are mostly spent working on preparing for accreditation, but there isn't a real willingness to openly collaborate at this time as far as I can see. Most teachers are so busy with their own classes, their own evaluations, and their own personal lives, that before they know it, it's 2:00pm and they haven't said more than "hi" to another adult in 7 hours. Or time is spent in line at the copy machine listening to some teachers vent and rant about one problem or another. As a result, most teachers are just doing the best they can with what they have to work with.

This is unfortunate and completely out of alignment with the energy of the Hierophant card. This card is all about using tried and true methods to achieve success rather than reinventing the wheel. Imagine how much time and energy teachers could save if they would just sit down for an hour or two and share information! It would be so invigorating to hear what is working well in terms of best practices from my colleagues. I am always looking for new and exciting lessons and activities, since creativity isn't always my strong suit. And I would be more than willing to share my resources as well since research is my strong suit. But there just never seems to be enough time or enough energy or enough harmony to get to any of that.

The Hierophant card is especially important for new teachers. If you haven't been assigned a mentor teacher, you should really seek one out in your building and ask if they would be willing to take you under their wing. It is invaluable to watch and learn from a veteran in the field. This way you can avoid burn out from feeling like you have to tackle everything on your own. If you are a veteran teacher, you really owe it to yourself to either mentor a new teacher or try to start a collaborative group. Even if you feel you are too busy or too burned out to help out, I think you will find that you will gain more than you will give by contributing in this way. A) it can help you renew your spirit and passion for teaching and B) it's just good karma to pay it forward to someone else, whether a new teacher or someone who is struggling.

I think teachers would be much happier if they were coming together as a community rather than coming into work as solitary educators. Think of how much time and effort you spend researching new lessons and new information or taking courses. You could save a ton of time by just asking someone in your building to share their lessons with you. Remember the old saying, two heads are better than one!

So in the spirit of the Hierophant, I will leave you with these two questions to ponder: What area of teaching could you use a mentor and what area of teaching could you be a mentor?

Oh, and think on this as well - we are teaching 21st century learning skills, expecting students to work collaboratively as they prepare for the real world. Shouldn't we be practicing what we preach?

All my best,

Amy