Aga Chojnacka-Al Atat (she/her)

IGB International School, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia • Primary Years Programme Curriculum Coordinator

What was your journey into teaching?

Growing up as an only child in Poland, I was extremely independent. I taught my first class at the age of three. I still remember my dad grumbling when I suggested that he single-handedly built a stage for our kindergarten production! I told a story to a group of tad surprised bears and dolls (we would normally go for walks). I haven’t looked back since.

My mom, uncles and cousins are all teachers. I grew up in my mom’s classroom and after-school clubs. I  got to see firsthand how her everyday actions made the lives of many children just a little better. I knew I wanted to be like my mom - a helper.  I taught English to children in the neighborhood when I was just 12 years old (perfecting English was an agentic act honed by hours watching Cartoon Network and MTV)! I continued tutoring children to support my family through high school and went into education in college. I remember a practicum where we were asked to teach a lesson about the Easter bunny to a group of 3 to 5-year-olds. The students were more interested in the carpet they were sitting on than the story! I wanted to stop and allow them to pursue their curiosity. I sensed early on in my career that it was important to “follow the children” and I developed an interest in more radical approaches to teaching. I also knew that stories were a ‘secret door’ to a more expansive world (check out author Mark Barnett’s TED talk). I’m still intrigued by how we can cheer learners (young and old) out of their comfort zones and engage them in deep inquiry.

Who was the K-12 teacher who made the greatest (positive) impact on your own life?

As you can gather from what I mentioned earlier, my mom is my biggest inspiration, but I’m grateful to one teacher in particular, my Polish teacher, Ms. Ludmila Kuchta. What is remarkable about her is that she was exceptionally strict! She had such high expectations for us and called us out when we didn’t meet them. I remember her never wasting words; her words were carefully chosen and offered clues for us. She took her profession seriously and we respected her for it.

What is a professional inquiry you are currently pursuing?

How can we create environments and conditions for the children to play and grow their natural talents?

I’m an eclectic but loyal learner. For over ten years now I’ve been inquiring into and curating resources of best practices in the early-years classroom. I’m a passionate play advocate who loves transforming spaces and communities into environments that nurture children who are seen as competent and creative. Above all, I value play and learner agency. My other inquiry and passion is the maker movement and design thinking and the opportunities those ways of thinking and learning offer our children as independent learners.

How are you pursuing it?

I love books but have very little time to read them in a traditional sense, hence my go-to podcasts and audible recordings. These accompany all my cooking, driving, and house chores. Whenever I’m learning or finding things out, I need to make things visible and tangible (and share them)! Hence, my over-eager outputs on social media (@chojnacka_aga, IG: @the100languages), where I curate resources and distill (or at least attempt to) ideas for others to use or get inspired by. I’m super grateful for our international educator community. They make me feel like I belong and give me a positive boost to pursue new things. Some of my absolute game-changers are:

What is a personal inquiry you are currently pursuing?

How can I live more fully and authentically?

My health and personal life have been a series of unfortunate events (depression, pulmonary embolism, cancer, Dengue). I’ve finally decided to start living, learning, and communicating unapologetically - being myself and telling my story. The past two years have been a really transformational time for me; discovering my values, leaning into and embracing my quirks, and living. In the words of my absolute favorite, Brené Brown, I am wholeheartedly embracing my gifts of imperfection. I’ve committed myself to my values of kindness and courage and use them as a personal and professional compass.

How are you pursuing it?

My appetite for learning is insatiable, I think Einstein’s words describe it best, “I have no special talents, I’m just passionately curious.” I have copious notebooks and I love Post-Its and highlighters (I have a bit of a hoarding streak, I’m afraid). I like to make everything visual, hence my favorite learning-transfer tools (beyond a cork board) are Padlet and Canva. For professional learning, I do love offerings from Toddle and Coursera, EDX, Future Learn with courses like: Leaders of Learning.

Some of my favorite audible books are: Glennon Doyle: Untamed, Brené Brown: Gifts of Imperfection and Atlas of the Heart, don Miguel Ruiz: The Four Agreements, Simon Sinek: The Infinite Game, Abby Wambach: Shewolf.

My ultimate podcast recommendations include: Glennon Doyle: We Can Do Hard Things, Brené Brown: Unlocking Us and Dare to Lead, and Simon Sinek: A Bit of Optimism.

To improve teaching as a profession, what three things would you advocate for and why?

#1 - This world needs kindness.

Let’s be kind to ourselves - Many of us have super high expectations of ourselves and constantly operate in the “It’s either perfect or nothing at all” space. I think we need to give ourselves more grace. As educators, what we often perceive as not good enough is often good enough or great by our learners or community standards. So let’s breathe, smile to ourselves in the mirror, and give ourselves a little more credit for the amazing work we do.

Let’s be kind to others - We are emerging from the pandemic either closer to people, or very alienated. It’s important to recognize that all of us have some trauma we had gone through in the last 2-3 years and to be gentle and understanding with one another. 

Let’s be kind to our planet - Things are getting scary. Our weather patterns are becoming more extreme, the scientists are warning us that 2050 is the point of no return for climate catastrophe, and our planet could definitely benefit from a sense of urgency. I’ve been weaving SDGs into my community and classroom practice for the past eight years. I believe that with every educator and learner committed to those 17 goals through our daily choices and actions, we can make a real difference.

#2 - This world needs courage. 

Of people pursuing their dreams, passions - I see so many of us trying to conform to what we think might be expected of us, in terms of how we communicate our values, identities, and support our communities. I think this world would be a much happier place if we gave ourselves the permission to go after the things we love. Just as children naturally pursue play as their language of learning and living, we should give ourselves more credit for our natural instinct telling us what would make us thrive and succeed.

Of people speaking up, standing up and showing up for other people - We’ve entered the times of great resignation and uncertainty. A lot of the things we took for granted and believed in are no more. It’s very much up to us - ordinary people - to reshape our new communities, societies, and values. If we do not speak up for ourselves and others and demand to be heard, we can only blame ourselves if we wake up to a world we do not recognize and do not feel like we belong to.

Of people doing the good work against all odds - One of my most recent reads is The Four Agreements and has been a true wake up call as to how I live my life and what to expect of myself. The “always trying to do your best” agreement may not be anything new, but for me it’s a valuable reminder not to get sucked into the negativity or the world’s doom-and-gloom narrative.

#3 - This world needs us to do our best.

Show up for yourself.

Show up for others. 

Bring your best self to the table.

You gotta see this!

I absolutely love listening to Ken Robinson's final Talk and hope we can get it to as many people as possible. I’m also always amazed and delighted by the curated collection of Kids Should See This videos which are a beautiful provocation/invitations for any classroom that values curiosity and inquiry. As someone who loves picture books, but not always the budget to purchase them, I go to Epic! for visual therapy and inspiration. If you are beginning to curate your picture book collection, here are some of my favorite ones.

Thank you, Aga. Stay curious, friends.