Bird Droppings February 18, 2026
The Power of Example goes beyond the curriculum and the classroom.

“We taught our children by both example and instruction, but with an emphasis on example, because all learning is a dead language to one who gets it second hand.” Kent Nerburn, The Wisdom of the Native Americans

For nearly twenty-five years, I have often looked to the wisdom in Nerburn’s writings. In a recently completed graduate school project, I used similar wording: we teach by example, and, as Dr. Laura Nolte said, “Children learn what they live.” They learn not only subject matter but attitude and character from teachers as they observe and watch the ebb and flow of life about them. I grew up in a household where what we saw in our parents and grandparents was how life was to be lived. They set examples for all of their children in how they should treat others and how they would be parents. As I watch the third generation of great-grandchildren starting school now, I see that they are successful.

“Knowledge was inherent in all things. The world was a library.” Luther Standing Bear

“Learning how to learn is life’s most important skill.” Tony Buzan

As so often happens when several educators get together, the discussion of differing views and philosophies of education comes up. I often attend family gatherings because many of my immediate family members are in education, so the topic is education and learning. One afternoon, while sitting in my mother-in-law’s house, we talked about teaching and working with special needs children several years back. In a society so filled with appliances and contrivances that aid us in handling every little detail, sometimes we forget that simple things can help us learn, study, and open our eyes to what is around us.

“Learning hath gained most by those books by which the printers have lost.” Thomas Fuller

So much research has been done on learning and the mind. Many great thinkers have founded entire schools of thought named after them, based on their ideas. Developmentalists have written about and been written about numerous other philosophies, such as constructivism and modernism, as well as many other isms, which make it an exciting field.

“The learner constructs learning and must be a social experience before it is a cognitive experience,” Max Thompson, Learning Concepts, the creator of Learning-Focused Schools.

“Being ignorant is not so much a shame as being unwilling to learn.” Benjamin Franklin

We have to want to learn, and I have found that apathy is a challenging aspect of education in our society today. So many students are apathetic toward life, learning, and even their existence. It isn’t easy to learn if you choose not to, and, conversely, it is even more challenging to teach a person who is determined not to learn.

“Research shows that you begin learning in the womb and go right on learning until the moment you pass on. Your brain has a virtually limitless learning capacity, which makes every human a potential genius.” Michael J. Gelb

Sitting in with a group of students who deliberately chose to be ignorant is an exciting situation. I often find myself in that situation with the particular students I work with. One of my students rationalized that since he would fail anyway, why do any work? Trying to unravel that logic is rough. Even though his grades have improved in recent days and he actually did his work during a break, he decided to quit and didn’t care. He was asking why it was even more interesting.

“Whatever”
“What good is it?”
“Ain’t gonna do me no good outside of school.”

These answers are always so eloquent and thought out that I am sometimes amazed. Students think about why they shouldn’t have to learn, and they put effort into coming up with reasons why education is stupid and or not needed. Sadly, pieces of their logic are dead on. We have taken the school curriculum to a point where much of it is often meaningless to some students. It is hard for me to recall ever using trigonometry in my life. We have stripped away so many functional courses and provided, in return, college-track sciences and math that can be overwhelming and often frustrating for some students, and then exit tests that have to be passed.

“The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.” Wayne Dyer

Several years ago, in YAHOO news, an article caught my attention, and as I read, I realized I, too, have used similar analogies. In some dictionaries, McJob has been described as a meaningless job with no direction and very few requirements. McDonald’s has sued to have it removed, stating that its jobs are meaningful and do have direction. I know a young man who started working at McDonald’s, is now in business school, and owns his own Starbucks. Many years ago, before he passed away, Ray Kroc began selling milkshake machines to restaurants after meeting the McDonald brothers, who had a restaurant serving hamburgers. Ray Kroc’s widow left $ 1.5 billion to charity in her will, all based on her work at McDonald’s. Ray Kroc founded the McDonald’s franchise with nothing but an idea and hard work.

It was not apathy that built McDonald’s, nor was it ignorance and a lack of learning. I often wonder if modern man’s self-empowered ignorance is boredom.

“Observation was certain to have its rewards. Interest, wonder, and admiration grew, and the fact was appreciated that life was more than mere human manifestations; it was expressed in a multitude of forms. This appreciation enriched Lakota’s existence. Life was vivid and pulsing; nothing was casual and commonplace. The Indian – lived in every sense of the word – from his first to his last breath.” Chief Luther Standing Bear, Teton Sioux

Each day, as I observe students and teachers existing, I see people who often are not experiencing life, for lack of a better word. They are simply occupying space, as I say. I use a testing tool in my room: the Miller Analogy Test, often used in graduate school admissions. I explained how difficult the test is and that I had data from graduate schools showing acceptance rates, and I made it very clear that this was hard. Within every class, I do this with one or two who heed my warnings and quit right off the bat. Several, however, actually have difficulty reading the test, and I will read the questions, too. Some completed the test. The actual grades on recent semester report cards were terrible, yet in a class where the average reading level is extremely low, over half the class had scores of 30 or higher. Granted, this was not a valid test in the manner I gave it, and it was only for fun. However, imagine the self-esteem building when I explain that several local universities use 30 as a minimum for acceptance into a master’s program and 45 for their specialist programs. I had three students score over 45. I also said there were teachers at the high school who only scored thirty.

I am always amazed when challenges are thrown out: some accept them, some dodge them, and some quit. Earlier in my writing, I read a passage from Kent Nerburn’s book The Wisdom of the Native Americans. “We taught our children by both example and instruction, but with an emphasis on example…” As I thought back to my assignment of a test far beyond most of their capabilities, the MAT was in how it was approached; no pressure was applied, and you could take it or not. I casually mentioned how difficult it was, but I continually said I thought they could do it.

SUCCESS is more than simply doing something. Success is Seeing, Understanding, Commitment, Consideration, Education, Satisfaction, and Self. It is a simple concept, but it is difficult to teach when students have been beaten down in their educational and professional lives. Children learn what they live on my wall every day, and there is a giant black light poster from 1972. Keep all in harm’s way on your minds and in your hearts, as our efforts to bring peace to the world become more difficult with each moment. It seems namaste.

My family and friends, I do not say this lightly,

Mitakuye Oyasin

(We are all related)

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