With 2018 closing and the early days of 2019 on us, I wanted to pen down some thoughts on my journey recently. Coined by one of my colleague I could normally be described as an educational dreamer. An optimist who sees the positive in the educational landscape as well as the trends on the horizon.
However; while there were many professional achievements, I found this year one of the most challenging in my career. For so many years, I have been challenged by those around me and the research to push myself to embed the highest quality pedagogies and learning experiences I could, although, this changed in 2018.
During this time, one of my esteemed colleagues said to me "you need to step back from pushing so hard and let others catch up. You work so hard at supporting people at the shoulder, yet they need to discover and do it themselves". It was suggest that this would allow me the time I needed to complete my higher levels of teacher accreditation showing my proficiency against the professional standards and sustain my performance in my Masters of Educational Leadership study. I know this advice might sound helpful; however, in that moment, my mind shifted from dreaming what could be to compliance with what's expected.
When encouraging educators we need to be careful to shape our words in such a way that we empower the dreamer whilst supporting compliance. When compliance becomes our focus (at least when it does for me) we feel weighed down; however, freedom comes when we can dream about the possibilities and set goals towards achieving them. By seeing a bigger picture it helps us to position the puzzle pieces which are the detailed tasks.
As part of resetting my mindset I have chose to participate in the #OneWord2019 challenge. My One Word that I am resolved to help guide my thoughts throughout 2019 is Breathe. I am choosing to breathe, pause and reflect on the decisions I have made over the past 12 months and taking ownership over them. This evaluation helps me to make better, more insightful and informed future decisions as I lean into my experience.
Evaluation also helps us to know the impact we have had. Earlier this week, I received the news that one of my mothers closest friends is not far from passing away at 83 years old. As a child, I can remember playing in her backyard and pool, having Saturday morning teas with her in our backyard after my game of football or cricket and swinging on her old hills hoist clothes line. I have always known her as one of the most kind hearted and generous people I knew. However, it astonished me that it was only in the past 5 years after her husband passed away that she realised the impact on others lives she had. At his funeral there was close to 800 people which included many key figures from the Australian horse racing industry, a high profile international lawyer, an Australian of the Year and the wife of a Hollywood movie star. In her reflections after this she realised that most of the people in attendance had rarely met her husband this included the lawyer, Australian of the Year and wife of the actor came. They attended because of the genuine loving input given by her through their lives and for me, I was in the same boat! She didn't care what walk of life we came from or what profession, income or status we had, she just treated us the same. The value of intentional acceptance and inclusion of others she vicariously instilled in me has been a gift that have served me well. As an educational dreamer it has helped me to build empathy with others, which has meant I have included their needs and wants along with supporting their buy-in to my educational vision.
To close, my daughter gave one of the most insightful quotes while helping me on the first flight of my drone just after Christmas this week. It was given to me from my family to remind me of the heights we could attain. She said while looking at the streaming video "from up here, you can see beyond the horizon making all the little things going on down on the ground look like puzzle pieces working together to make a wonderful picture". This is what educational dreamers do, they soar above to see what can be and guide the individual pieces to work together to form image using both current research, practice and professional learning communities. To read more about my educational vision.
I wonder as we kick into 2019, what is your educational dream? How are you stopping to reset your focus and what are some of the things that are going to support your development as a professional in 2019? I would love to hear your thoughts.
However; while there were many professional achievements, I found this year one of the most challenging in my career. For so many years, I have been challenged by those around me and the research to push myself to embed the highest quality pedagogies and learning experiences I could, although, this changed in 2018.
During this time, one of my esteemed colleagues said to me "you need to step back from pushing so hard and let others catch up. You work so hard at supporting people at the shoulder, yet they need to discover and do it themselves". It was suggest that this would allow me the time I needed to complete my higher levels of teacher accreditation showing my proficiency against the professional standards and sustain my performance in my Masters of Educational Leadership study. I know this advice might sound helpful; however, in that moment, my mind shifted from dreaming what could be to compliance with what's expected.
When encouraging educators we need to be careful to shape our words in such a way that we empower the dreamer whilst supporting compliance. When compliance becomes our focus (at least when it does for me) we feel weighed down; however, freedom comes when we can dream about the possibilities and set goals towards achieving them. By seeing a bigger picture it helps us to position the puzzle pieces which are the detailed tasks.
As part of resetting my mindset I have chose to participate in the #OneWord2019 challenge. My One Word that I am resolved to help guide my thoughts throughout 2019 is Breathe. I am choosing to breathe, pause and reflect on the decisions I have made over the past 12 months and taking ownership over them. This evaluation helps me to make better, more insightful and informed future decisions as I lean into my experience.
Evaluation also helps us to know the impact we have had. Earlier this week, I received the news that one of my mothers closest friends is not far from passing away at 83 years old. As a child, I can remember playing in her backyard and pool, having Saturday morning teas with her in our backyard after my game of football or cricket and swinging on her old hills hoist clothes line. I have always known her as one of the most kind hearted and generous people I knew. However, it astonished me that it was only in the past 5 years after her husband passed away that she realised the impact on others lives she had. At his funeral there was close to 800 people which included many key figures from the Australian horse racing industry, a high profile international lawyer, an Australian of the Year and the wife of a Hollywood movie star. In her reflections after this she realised that most of the people in attendance had rarely met her husband this included the lawyer, Australian of the Year and wife of the actor came. They attended because of the genuine loving input given by her through their lives and for me, I was in the same boat! She didn't care what walk of life we came from or what profession, income or status we had, she just treated us the same. The value of intentional acceptance and inclusion of others she vicariously instilled in me has been a gift that have served me well. As an educational dreamer it has helped me to build empathy with others, which has meant I have included their needs and wants along with supporting their buy-in to my educational vision.
To close, my daughter gave one of the most insightful quotes while helping me on the first flight of my drone just after Christmas this week. It was given to me from my family to remind me of the heights we could attain. She said while looking at the streaming video "from up here, you can see beyond the horizon making all the little things going on down on the ground look like puzzle pieces working together to make a wonderful picture". This is what educational dreamers do, they soar above to see what can be and guide the individual pieces to work together to form image using both current research, practice and professional learning communities. To read more about my educational vision.
I wonder as we kick into 2019, what is your educational dream? How are you stopping to reset your focus and what are some of the things that are going to support your development as a professional in 2019? I would love to hear your thoughts.
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