The Change Began With Me
“I looked at teaching more as offloading information than as a learning process where my learners actively participate in finding answers for themselves.” - Amlucky
When you step into Amlucky’s classroom, one thing quickly stands out: the way she and her students work together. She teaches Grades 5, 6 and 7 in one classroom, and there is a sense of respect and kindness between them.
It wasn’t always like this.
How it Began
Amlucky used to deal with behavioural issues, absenteeism and aggression in her classroom. She was often frustrated and discouraged by what she saw in her students and began to believe that this was simply how things would always be.
Learning looked much the same.
Her students were taught through rote memorization, while Amlucky saw herself as the person who had all the answers.
“I saw myself as the one who had all the answers and my learners knew nothing.”
For students who struggled to remember what they had been taught, this approach made learning even harder. When they could not recall a topic, Amlucky’s response was often disappointment and anger. And over time, that began to shape how she saw her students.
The Spark that Created Change
Through Impact One’s classroom management training, Amlucky was introduced to a Biblical approach to teaching. The training explored four key relationships that God is reconciling: our relationship with God, with ourselves, with others and with creation. For Amlucky, this was no ordinary training. It caused her to look inward.
She began to see how her own brokenness affected the way she interacted and responded to her students. For a long time, she had placed the blame on them. Now, she was beginning to ask what needed to change in her. One lesson, in particular, stayed with her.
“The key thing that stood out to me from that training is that my students are not the problem, the problem is the behaviour—that is what I need to work on.”
That one shift changed the way she saw her learners.
“They have problems too and they don't know how to express that pain. Knowing that made it easy for me to approach them and begin the process of reconciliation.”
Slowly, her classroom began to change. The yelling and screaming gave way to respectful, polite conversations. The anger melted into kindness. And then, she finally gave up her stick that she used to maintain order. She doesn’t need it anymore.
As her relationship with her students changed, so did her teaching approach. Her students were no longer learning through rote memorization. They were learning to use critical thinking and applying those lessons practically. They became center stage in the learning process.
“I didn’t think it would be possible to have a discussion on a topic with my students. I didn’t think it would work, but surprisingly, they love it.”
And she has noticed something else. They are remembering their lessons better.
Lasting Change
Amlucky’s story is not about a teacher learning a new way to manage a classroom or teach a lesson. It is about what happened when she began to see her students differently. The children she once saw as the source of the problem are now learners she can listen to, engage with, and love even when their behaviour is difficult.
And as that relationship has changed, so has their experience of learning. That is at the heart of why we do what we do. A lasting change that begins from within and begins to find its way into their classroom.