More Lessons in Education from Dr. Seuss: The Zax

 "All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental."

 When I read "The Zax" by Dr. Seuss, I think of the disclaimer written above. Oh, how this story needs it because we all at some point in our lives have known a Zax or have been a Zax. 

The story is simple. A North-going Zax and a South-going Zax run into each other. Each refuse to move out of the other's way. They won't step aside and they certainly won't change direction. While they stand there face to face, arms defiantly crossed, a city springs up around them and an interstate going in all sorts of directions is built above, behind, and beside them, yet they stand there eternally deadlocked. 

So, how can this apply to educators?

If you are the Zax, uncross those arms and open your eyes and your mind. Tunnel vision traps you in a tunnel. You can not stay in the tunnel of past teaching traditions. That is not healthy for you or your students. Uncross your arms and start engaging students with hands-on, interactive learning experiences. Step off to the side, and let your students choose the direction of learning. Model for them an openness to growth and guide them as they navigate through multi-directional learning paths. The world of education is organic, constantly growing and changing, and if we stay immovable, we will be left behind. 

If the Zax works with you and sometimes blocks your path, please keep building. Keep on being innovative and daring, taking risks and sharing those risks. Don't let the resistance to change change you. If you find yourself in a Zax school culture, seek support from like-minded educators outside of your school. You are not alone and you are growing in the right direction. Stay strong and know that while the Zaxes are left behind, you are moving forward.

If the Zax works for you, and is standing there with arms crossed in defiance, oblivious to the colleagues who are constructing new cities and building bridges and interstates around them, then it may be time to move the Zax. In the story, a Zax By-pass is built, but that is not always an option. Sometimes the Zax must be relocated. While that may be an uncomfortable and sometimes excruciating decision to make, if it is what's best for the students, then it must be done.

The most important thing is to keep the Zax in perspective, whether it's a person blocking your path, or the voice in your head that holds you back from trying something new. Zax moments are human and natural and common for us all, but they are to be only moments ----hurdles to jump over, not walls built to keep in or keep out or keep still. If anything, the Zaxes in our lives can be what propels us to do and be more.