Last fall I was asked to deliver remarks to inspire future middle grades teachers related to the theme, “Navigating the Educational Landscape: A Roadmap for Future Educators.” How could I resist? I am a former seventh-grade geography teacher and a proud, map-loving, geography nerd. It’s true! I read maps for fun, and I can’t put my head on the pillow at night if I haven’t played the Worldle and Flagle geography quiz games. I really appreciate the theme and the rich metaphors it evokes—navigation, landscape, roadmap. However, the more I think about it, the more I get stuck on the word “roadmap.” You see, as future middle grades teachers, you will do a lot of navigating throughout your career. It will be a long, adventurous, fulfilling journey. But I’m not sure a roadmap is the right tool to guide you.
Let me explain. Maps work great when the landscape is static—when the place you’re going isn’t going anywhere; and when your destination—let’s call it Middle Schooltopia—is in the same place today as it was yesterday and will be tomorrow. All the roads to Middle Schooltopia are laid out in a predictable, systematic pattern.
But Middle Schooltopia doesn’t exist, and this landscape you’ve already begun navigating as an educator isn’t quite so fixed or static. The policy landscape will change, and then change some more, and then probably change back again to what it was a generation ago. Of course, the students in your classroom will change each year, and the students you have each year will change through the course of the year and even by the hour and minute! Colleagues will come and go. You may change grade levels or schools during your career. You get the picture. In the world of middle grades education change is normal; the landscape is dynamic and shifting—more like navigating the churning high seas or a great expanse of shifting desert sand dunes than an interstate highway system. A “roadmap” that specifies step by step how to get from Year 0 to Year 3 or 4 or 5 probably doesn’t exist or wouldn’t be practical.
I know what you’re thinking. “So then, Professor Smartypants, what navigation tools does a future middle grades teacher need?” I think future middle grades teachers, in fact all educators, need three navigation tools: a compass, a landmark or reference point, and a travel log.
A Compass
First, as a beginning middle grades teacher, you need a compass. A compass orients you to true North; a point that doesn’t shift or change. Your core beliefs are your true North. It’s no mistake that our guiding document is subtitled … you guessed it … This We Believe. What are your core beliefs about young adolescent learners? About teaching and learning? About middle grades education, in general? As a beginning teacher, I had the support of a fantastic principal, Mike Shields, who asked us at the beginning of the year to name our non-negotiables—the core principles we wouldn’t violate; the lines we wouldn’t cross. Never humiliate a child. Every child can learn. My classroom is a safe, affirming place. Principles and beliefs like these orient us on our journey and show us the path forward. You need a compass.
A Landmark
Second, you need a landmark or reference point. Traditionally, sailors on the high seas used the stars and other celestial bodies as reference points, or they used lighthouses to guide their way as they approached the coast. Travelers crossing the vast shifting sands of the Sahara Desert might be oriented by the mountain peaks that rise up to 10,000 feet above sea level in Northern Chad and Southern Libya or by the Atlas Mountains on the western horizon. On your journey as a new middle grades teacher, things like your curriculum, your lesson plans, student data, “best practices,” or the advice of mentors will be your reference points and landmarks. Right here at AMLE you’re a click away from a literal treasure trove of articles, videos, and web links to serve as landmarks and reference points. Attend conferences and other professional learning events to learn new ideas, build your professional network, and find mentors. These valuable resources will help you know when you’ve veered off course and provide guidance to point you toward your destination.
A Travel Log
Third, you need a travel log. This is probably your most important tool. It’s where you state your intent, your purpose. Where is it you’re going? Or is the journey itself, the adventure, your destination? Most importantly, what is your starting point? Where are you right now? Do you have those critical habits of self-reflection that help you know your location and what you need to do to move forward? Do you have—as my dad, the wise old coach, would say—a teachable spirit? The travel log represents your ability to self-reflect, self-appraise, and self-regulate; to “read the room” and take whatever information and input you get and make any needed adjustments or changes to your course of action. Are you goal oriented? Are you driven by data and committed to continuous improvement (to use some buzzwords)? Are you ready to own responsibility for your professional growth?
As a beginning middle grades teacher, you will need a travel log—a strong sense of professional purpose and the habits and dispositions of critical self-reflection. You will need to know the landmarks and reference points that will guide and cue you along the way. Finally, you will need a compass—a set of core beliefs and principles to orient you toward your destination. It is my hope and my expectation—no, it is my solemn promise—that you will find all three of those tools through CMLA, your middle grades teacher education program, and AMLE and its affiliate organizations.
Bon voyage!
Author note: This essay is adapted from an address delivered to the 20th Annual CMLA Summit at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, GA, on October 11, 2024.
David C. Virtue is the Taft B. Botner Professor of Middle Grades Education at Western Carolina University, the editor of Research in Middle Level Education Online, and the co-host of AMLE’s Middle School Research to Practice Podcast.