The Uncompromising Teacher is No Teacher At All.

It is my conviction that education without self-knowledge in depth is a process which, like education itself, is never complete. It is a point on a continuous and never-ending journey. It is always relative, never absolute. It is a process which must go on throughout life, if at all; and like the fight for external freedom, it demands eternal vigilance and continuous struggle. This is because in every one of us, from the beginning of life until its end, active forces are at work which tend repeatedly to confuse and obscure our images of ourselves. Therefore, that well-known average man who lacks self-knowledge in depth looks out upon the world through glasses which are discolored by the quality of his own unconscious self-image. Without self-knowledge in depth we can have dreams, but no art. We can have the neurotic raw materials of literature but not mature literature. We can have no adults, but only aging children who are armed with words and paint and clay and atomic weapons, none of which they understand. And the greater the role in the educational process which is played by unconscious components of symbolic thinking, the wider must be this ancient and dishonorable gap between erudition and wisdom. It is this gap which makes a mockery of the more pretentious claims of art, of science, of education, and of religion.
-Lawrence S. Kubie, Neurotic Distortion of the Creative Process

Self-Knowledge can be incorporated into any lesson as long as the students are given space to express themselves genuinely and are given support from their peers and facilitators. With greater trust and communication amongst members of the group, activities will continue with greater focus and investment from students.

What must be understood amongst all else is that the culture of the classroom reflects the culture of the teachers. If you have teachers satisfied with managing the classroom through fear and silence, then your students will never feel comfortable enough to express themselves. But if you have teachers who feel adventurous and democratic, then you will have a classroom pushing for fairness and creativity. The importance of this culture cannot be exaggerated for as we all should know, the poor habits of destructive criticism or boredom your students may exhibit will last as long as they are tolerated. And the longer they are tolerated, the stronger they will become.

The process of altering your work to the approval of someone else has been difficult ever since it was first attempted but we must remember that if we are not working in coordination with administrators mandating curriculum or parents cynical of unconventional styles, then we are working to the detriment of the students. See these other stakeholders as allies and approach them for support rather than as obstacles in the way of your agenda. Compromise is a worthy lesson for students and teachers.