How do I view change? Well I feel pretty lucky. Go through the 'Strength Finders' process one of my strength is that I am a Futurist. I am constantly looking for that next project to try, next tool to test, and new strategy to employ. I feel that change has been one constant through my teacher career and it has kept me engaged, motivated, and humble. I feel that one of the great benefits of the teaching profession is that there is always more to learn, explore, and evolve into. I'm not saying that I have don't have may habits or dismiss good practice that has happened in the past, but if we expect students to change especially in these interesting and exciting times than so should we. Change requires and open mind, but positive and beneficial change require reflection and a strong sense of self. Change can and does involve risks, can be messy, and sometimes results in failures, but these are the events that allow you to grow, challenge your mindset, and come to new and wonderful understandings. Change can be tough if it is thrust upon us and we don't have much say but if you have never initiated change or have tried to find the positives in change then this type of change will be more difficult to accept and learn from. Our students are going through a lot of change in their lives and some more than others and some more difficult than others. If we as teachers recognize this and internalize this we can better understand our students and be able to provide them the guidance or bridge that they may need as well. As with most things we have a choice in how we deal with, accept, and move on from change ... one's attitude can make all the difference.
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"Change can and does involve risks, can be messy, and sometimes results in failures, but these are the events that allow you to grow, challenge your mindset, and come to new and wonderful understandings". Sometimes teachers have a tendency is to make learning less difficult, less of a struggle, less of a path filled with obstacle by eliminating what is seen as "unnecessary" and providing only the content that is deemed necessary. Yet, unless we allow students to grapple, take risks, be messy and experience failure, these "new and wonderful understandings" have less of a chance to happen. Reflection on the part of the teacher, as you comment, is a key ingredient to this process. Thanks for sharing your learning with us!
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Thanks for the comments Kelly. Was just looking at a blog from George Couros http://georgecouros.ca/blog/archives/5083 about change ... and have have run into a comment he made "It is almost as if many schools are blocking their own teachers from being great." Sometime being an agent of change is a difficult position as well
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AuthorDean Vendramin has been Educator for over 20 years. He is the 21st Century Education Leader at Archbishop M.C. O'Neill Catholic High School. He has a passion for all things in education with emphasis on technology integration, assessment, professional development, and 21 Century Education. Archives
April 2022
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