I like to joke that there are moments in my job when I feel like I am "herding cats." Often I will simply make meowing noises while I herd said cats, and my co-teachers/savvy students know what I mean. But until I actually stepped into the shoes of a shepherd and tried my hand at herding sheep and goats in the Jordan Valley this summer, I had no idea how many legitimate similarities there are between teaching and shepherding if you stop to think about it.
One of the first things we did fresh off the airplane was visit a fascinating natural space, a garden full of biblical era plants (at least that's what the curators of the land say). Even more excitingly for me, down a dusty deserty hill, there was a fenced in area where sheep and goats munched grass on uneven craggy rocks and otherwise ignored us. My group of 50 or so split into two teams, each with the same objective: get this group of animals to move into one of three designated areas marked around the enclosure before the time ran out.
Right away we were being asked to collaborate with a group we didn't know yet, which had its inherent awkwardness. We cobbled together a plan, and clumsily tried all kinds of absurd tactics to get these animals all flowing as one to the destination we had chosen. It was NOT easy! Neither of our groups made our goal, but in the debrief conversation that followed, I kept making connections to leading a classroom of children.
Here are some of the shepherding tips I think educators would be wise to consider. I'll let you draw your own parallels to the classroom:
- Get on the sheep's level. Speak their language to them.
- Yelling and intimidation don't work.
- Not all shepherds have to lead from the front of the flock.
- Be gentle and patient if one of your flock strays.
- You can achieve great results when you work as a team with other shepherds.
Being a teacher of children is in many ways a call to shepherd: to lead the way and keep our charges safe, to ensure they arrive at their destinations unscathed, to notice and redirect when needed. Although Israel and the lessons I learned there are now a summer of fun behind me, I hope I can still keep looking back and finding connections that will shape an incredible year of shepherding to come.
