Ryan Holiday's book Ego is the Enemy has some brilliant passages that have provoked a lot of reflection for me and my practice as a teacher.
In the chapter Always Stay a Student, he makes the point that as we succeed in our chosen career, we continually find ourselves in new situations.
When I started teaching in 1983, I had to learn how to teach. At the start, I knew nothing. Holiday quotes physicist John Wheeler, who said, "as our island of knowledge grows, so does the shore of our ignorance".
In other words, each advancement in teaching that improved my practice also brought with it new situations and challenges that I had never come across before. So, my ignorance grew. I knew less, even as I progressed with my teaching.
The thing is, this never stops! I am still coming across stuff in 2026 that I am completely ignorant about. Like the uses for AI.
The more I learn about it, the less I know and so on ad infinitum.
The temptation is to pretend I know, when really I don't. Again though, the thing is - this applies to everyone!
The list of things I don't know about at Iona College, and the world of teenage girls is vast.
- I don't know about the music they like.
- I haven't read the books they are reading.
- As an Anglican, I don't know anything about Presbyterianism.
- I have little idea about who does what at school outside of my role in the English department.
- I don't know the nuances of teenage girl language.
- I don't know the nuances of teenage girls.
I could go on and on but you get the gist. I'm ignorant of a lot of things.
The risk is of thinking I am set and secure, when in reality understanding and mastery is a fluid, continued process (Holiday).
So, hence the chapter title - Always Stay a Student!
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