The Circus Teaching Metaphor

Teachers are the performers Acrobats Teaching is a huge balancing act. Between school life and home life, you also need to balance each subject, transitions, and various needs of the students

Teachers are the performers Ring master Teachers maintain the control of the classroom, ensuring everything runs smoothly and that everyone’s needs are met and guiding attention to the appropriate task.

Teachers are the performers Lion tamer Those students aren’t always happy!

Teachers are the performers Clown Teaching offers the opportunity to be silly, to dress up, to tell jokes, and have fun with the students

The Audience The entire teaching performance needs to meet the needs and desire of the audience, consisting of not only the students, but the parents, administration, and community.

Constantly Changing The teacher’s performance constantly needs to be changed and improved based on the audience as well as the environment, just as the circus acts change slightly from show to show/location to location.

Circus Environment Teaching offers the excitement, stress, and world of emotions often felt at the circus. There are hectic times, and silent concentrated times, but at the end of the day there is a level of satisfaction all around.

Paperwork! And, of course, there’s the paperwork involved: Each performance requires ticket sales and accounting work, just as each student requires a report card and sometimes an IEP Reviews of the circus are taken into consideration, just as teachers are required to reflect on the day and make appropriate changes where necessary to keep the audience engaged.