While perusing a recent leadership article, I stumbled across a quote
from Simon Sinek’s new book Leaders Eat
Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t. I enjoyed reading First Ask Why so I’ll probably read this
one in the near future. The quote reads:
It seems to stir
controversy when I talk about the fact that no matter how great social media
is, it is not as effective for building strong bonds of trust as real human
contact is… It is also the reason a video conference can never replace a
business trip. Trust is not formed through a screen; it is formed across a
table. It takes a handshake to bind humans … and no technology can replace
that. There is no such thing as virtual trust” (p. 111).
As much as technology has advanced the methodology of human
connectedness it has also created a sterile and antiseptic environment devoid
of the human touch. We miss being physically present in the same room, hearing
the same sounds, smelling the Starbucks coffee on the desk, and absorbing the
visual stimuli of our surroundings. We have traded it for a digital replica
that fails in comparison to the real thing of human-to-human contact.
The virtual classroom has a place in the ever-changing educational
environment, but it will never replace the face-to-face encounter between
student and teacher. That kind of human interaction is powerful and filled with
life-changing opportunities.
Teachers stand in the gap between the student and their future. Who can
accurately predict the complex nature of the world that they will inherit – or
will it be a world that they help create?
Our role as educators is to disciple and prepare them for the future.
May we never replace the human touch for a digital touch screen. Stay connected
with your students so that you may, in some way, touch their souls for the
Kingdom. It is only the touch of the Master’s hand that can truly transform and
shape their character.
We are plan "A" and there is no plan "B".
Stay in touch, my human friend.
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