On the #Drawn2Teach book study happening now over on Instagram, Josh Stumpenhorst asked the following question:
Here was the response I gave on Instagram:
Instead of answering this question with the idea that had pushback (because I have had a ton), I want to focus more on answering what I have shifted my thinking on for this context.
First of all, assume positive intent of the other person you are working within education. If you think you are the only one trying to do good things for students, you already have a disconnect. You can meaningfully move more people forward through “influence” than you can “power”. For influence, people need to know you value them and their contributions.
Secondly, the best answers are usually somewhere in the middle. Not always, but rarely do extremes work for our students. Find the places where you agree and work from there.
Finally, try to find a solution moving forward that leads to action. Too often people hate meetings because they are all about talking and little about action. What are the things you are going to try and come back with to share with one another the next time you connect? There needs to be accountability in creating solutions, not just discussing them.
As my friend Joe Sanfelippo always says, we are all in this together.
