cc licensed flickr photo shared by skippyjon
I have been reading a lot of blogs over the break and it seems that education is in terrible shape and it is a little too “Debbie Downer” for me. Although education is not perfect, neither is anyone of us. There are things that I would LOVE to change about myself but I know that focusing constantly on what is wrong does not really help to make it right. I believe in strengths based leadership and the more we focus on the positives, the better we become. Coming into a new school last year and seeing areas for growth, I decided to focus on our strengths first, and empowering our staff to take leadership. Luckily I am blessed with an amazing staff that works together and believes in the same thing I do; do what is best for kids.
Here are some really good examples of things happening with educators right now:
- Students at Burlington High School helping the community when someone needlessly stole gifts from those less fortunate.
- Chris Kennedy talking about his student reporters at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and doing some amazing things.
- Principals spending the day in a grade 3 and getting out of their office to spend more time with their kids and staff.
- Free teacher professional development for new teachers (really any educators) happening from the comfort of their own home.
I could go on and on, but the reality is education needs to change. The other reality though is that it is changing. It might not be in the quick and widespread manner that we would like, and it might be happening only in small pockets, but it is happening. Share those stories and I think it will happen even faster.
