Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Sometimes I get overwhelmed by the awesome ideas presented by really smart folks like Sir Ken or Daniel Pink and how much is really dependent on huge systemic, cultural and societal change.  However in one of my conversations with a classmate today I was reminded of the environmental bumper sticker / slogan "Think Globally Act Locally"
Some day there might exist these awesome ideas we talked about today... such as community schools open from early morning to late evening, individualizing education and literally unwrapping each child's gifts and talents, coaching them towards a life of success, professional and personal fulfillment and happiness.  However, this type of change in education may not be tomorrow, next week or even in my educational career.  One of classmates brought up the point that sometimes we are our own worst enemies, we are the system, like our superintendent likes to say: we are the district!  There is no us and them, we are them, they are us! There are many obstacles, to be sure, as described by a colleague trying to support an after school program in his building.  These red tape roadblocks can be frustrating and overwhelming especially in light that some are self-created and self-propelling!  That's when it is important to remember that we can take small actionable steps that move us toward the ideal.  Little changes within our locus of control while still keeping in mind the BIG PICTURE!! 


3 comments:

  1. Ahh, Annie, you are a wise woman. Thanks for your honest perspective. I guess if it were easy, it would have done long ago. Start small...just like the journey of a thousand miles.

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  2. I'm in the same boat as you, Annie. 100%. These big systemic changes overwhelm me too. Especially when we are entrenched in high stakes antiquated system. I totally agree with you though that the way to start to un-entrench ourselves is to start small and have great conversations with other educators and parents and even students about where we need to go. When we look back at our careers when we are 80 years old, maybe we will see that these small steps had a huge impact! Fingers crossed!

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  3. "...individualizing education and literally unwrapping each child's gifts and talents, coaching them towards a life of success, professional and personal fulfillment and happiness." What a great vision! Although big system changes are slow to come (as they always have been and as you've stated). If we just keep focused on this vision for our students, the world of education will change and will move, it just takes one teacher that is courageous enough to step into the river.

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