If you intend to achieve significant change, you must allow things to get messy. Messy is the time between establishing your vision and transformation occurring. The only problem is that messy isn't comfortable.
As educators, we constantly put our students in such situations. We introduce new concepts and expect them to give it the "old college try." When they struggle, we encourage them to persevere. We support them with scaffolds until we can gradually release control. And, despite how many different opportunities we must provide to help them get it, we do not stop until we are celebrating our students' successes.
Yet, as educators, we often forget to afford ourselves the same process. When we hear about new initiatives, or learn about new approaches, we internalize that we must instantly be able to implement them. But, think of it this way:
Would you ever expect your students to be perfect on their first try at something new?
What would you do if your students were too afraid to try something?
How would you support your students when they felt like they wanted to give up?
You would encourage, offer scaffolds, and keep offering opportunities until your students succeeded. Therefore, you must do the same for yourself and your teachers.
Change is a process, a messy process... and we are all learners in this process.
As educators, we constantly put our students in such situations. We introduce new concepts and expect them to give it the "old college try." When they struggle, we encourage them to persevere. We support them with scaffolds until we can gradually release control. And, despite how many different opportunities we must provide to help them get it, we do not stop until we are celebrating our students' successes.
Yet, as educators, we often forget to afford ourselves the same process. When we hear about new initiatives, or learn about new approaches, we internalize that we must instantly be able to implement them. But, think of it this way:
Would you ever expect your students to be perfect on their first try at something new?
What would you do if your students were too afraid to try something?
How would you support your students when they felt like they wanted to give up?
You would encourage, offer scaffolds, and keep offering opportunities until your students succeeded. Therefore, you must do the same for yourself and your teachers.
Change is a process, a messy process... and we are all learners in this process.