So for the past several years I’ve been working as an adjunct professor for Endicott College, teaching Master’s Degree classes on change management and innovation in education. It’s something that I truly enjoy for a number of reasons, but mostly because it provides me the opportunity to learn with educators from all around the world. With every new class and cohort I get re-inspired, I re-connect with why I love teaching so much, and I continuously get challenged to think about the “why” behind what we do as educators. This past week, I asked my current group of passionate professionals to answer that very question in a discussion post, “What is your own personal WHY as an educator? How do you live that truth both inside and outside of the school?”, and the answers that were shared absolutely made my heart want to burst!
It was beautiful to hear them all talking about wanting to inspire young people to be positive change agents for our world. It didn’t matter what subject or grade level or position within the school community they were in, every student in the cohort, from countries spanning across 4 continents, feverishly talked about wanting to develop beautiful human beings…not engineers, or mathematicians, or scientists, or entrepreneurs, or doctors or artists, but beautiful human beings!
They talked about the responsibility and opportunity that they had to teach compassion, and empathy, and resilience, and diversity, and social justice, and environmental stewardship, and intercultural understanding and love…it was heartwarming to say the least because I share in that belief that regardless of what careers our young people end up choosing, it’s who they are as people that will make all the difference! It feels good to know that teacher leaders from around the world are living and breathing this same purpose, and connecting to the same WHY when they wake up every morning. I felt honored to be able to reply back to each discussion post and to share that my WHY connects so strongly with theirs.
Honestly, it was a fun question to ask, and an important one to think about from time to time I believe. We often get so busy in our day to day lives that we can go weeks and weeks without stopping and re-connecting with our meaning and purpose as educators. This week I’m going to ask that you all take a few minutes to answer that same question for yourselves, and maybe even talk about it with a friend or a colleague…maybe even start one of your weekly meetings sharing your WHY out with each other. It’s a powerful and empowering experience to share your WHY with others, and to see how beautifully we are all connected to one another in our pursuit of creating a better world for our kids. Have a wonderful week everyone and remember to be great for our students and good to each other.
Quote of the Week…
When you learn, teach. When you get, give. -Maya Angelou
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