Unexpected Lessons Learned...
I've got a confession to make that may surprise you---although it wouldn't surprise the members of my learning team:
I am a pretty selfish person.
Now, there are more polite ways to say that----you might describe me as "solitary," or "driven by his own thoughts." You might even say that I'm a "make-it happen guy" or a "decisive man of action." But in the end, no matter how much polish you put on it, I'm selfish. I'm often convinced that I'm right, I'm stubborn to a fault, and I'm almost always willing to act whether anyone else is ready or not.
I think my selfish streak first became apparent to me when a colleague gave me a gag gift for Christmas called an, "I'm Always Right" card. It ended with the following statement:
Arguing with me is futile. I'm right, I'm always right and that's just the way it is. As soon as you learn that, you'll be a happier person and we'll be able to move forward!
How's that for a vision of collaboration?!
But I'm also intelligent enough to recognize that in education, teachers can't really afford to be selfish. You see, we have very little organizational power. We are rarely the members of a school community that "have the last word" when it comes to key decisions. Instead, our influence relies on the quality of the relationships that we have with others. We have to be coalition builders, reaching out and making connections that can be used to leverage change.
Knowing this, I'm spending at least as much time in my sessions here at the NSDC Summer Conference taking notes on the facilitation skills of the presenters as I am on the content of their presentations. I've noticed interesting ways to get participants to interact with one another and ways to grab the attention of a group. I've watched as differing viewpoints are embraced and as the cognitive positions of individuals are challenged respectfully.
And I've found myself wishing that someone had taught me these kinds of skills years ago.
Has anyone else found themselves in my position? What are your districts and states doing to support teacher leaders in their work beyond the classroom? Have you ever had training opportunities that made facilitation skills transparent to you? How were they structured? When were they delivered? How were participants selected?
Do our systems waste our potential when they fail to prepare us for work beyond the classroom?
I've got a confession to make that may surprise you---although it wouldn't surprise the members of my learning team:
I am a pretty selfish person.
Now, there are more polite ways to say that----you might describe me as "solitary," or "driven by his own thoughts." You might even say that I'm a "make-it happen guy" or a "decisive man of action." But in the end, no matter how much polish you put on it, I'm selfish. I'm often convinced that I'm right, I'm stubborn to a fault, and I'm almost always willing to act whether anyone else is ready or not.
I think my selfish streak first became apparent to me when a colleague gave me a gag gift for Christmas called an, "I'm Always Right" card. It ended with the following statement:
Arguing with me is futile. I'm right, I'm always right and that's just the way it is. As soon as you learn that, you'll be a happier person and we'll be able to move forward!
How's that for a vision of collaboration?!
But I'm also intelligent enough to recognize that in education, teachers can't really afford to be selfish. You see, we have very little organizational power. We are rarely the members of a school community that "have the last word" when it comes to key decisions. Instead, our influence relies on the quality of the relationships that we have with others. We have to be coalition builders, reaching out and making connections that can be used to leverage change.
Knowing this, I'm spending at least as much time in my sessions here at the NSDC Summer Conference taking notes on the facilitation skills of the presenters as I am on the content of their presentations. I've noticed interesting ways to get participants to interact with one another and ways to grab the attention of a group. I've watched as differing viewpoints are embraced and as the cognitive positions of individuals are challenged respectfully.
And I've found myself wishing that someone had taught me these kinds of skills years ago.
Has anyone else found themselves in my position? What are your districts and states doing to support teacher leaders in their work beyond the classroom? Have you ever had training opportunities that made facilitation skills transparent to you? How were they structured? When were they delivered? How were participants selected?
Do our systems waste our potential when they fail to prepare us for work beyond the classroom?
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