I Just Have To Be Right, But At What Cost?

It Is Better to Be in "Right Relationship" Than to Be "Right"

and...

Should Teachers Change Grade Levels Every So Often?

(Something to Think About)

Hello Elementary Friends,

First, Happy Spring to you in the USA and Happy Autumn in Australia!  Texas completed their spring break last week, and thankfully Colorado will have ours next week!  The scarf that I am wearing in this photo was given to me by my Year Two students in Australia just before I came home in December.  Of course, it was summer there, so the scarf is more of a spring/summer weight and style.  I told the children that it would be winter when I got home, so I promised them to wear it on the first day of spring in Colorado.  Well, that day is today!  So, here you go, Beaumont Road students - I am wearing your scarf!

Something That Fills My Bucket

May We Please Quit Fighting With Each Other?

In my last blog I spoke about the "angst" that I was feeling in the air and presented some reasons for this uneasiness and some ways I might help myself and others regain a sense of stability and confidence.  As I have had some time to further consider the atmosphere that we find now in the USA, I was taken back to several moments of "aha" while I was in Australia.  

I have spoken before about the unique character and cultural traits of the Aussies.  Generally, Australians are open and direct in their communication.  They often minimize their own success, are very down to earth and always mindful of not giving the impression that they think they are better than anyone else.  They are eager to give people a "fair go" ( a chance to prove themselves or a fresh start).  Australians place a high priority on relationships. They stand up for their mates (friends) and they cheer on the underdog.  Australians prefer people who are modest, humble, and with a sense of humor.  The Aussies that we became friends with were definitely opinionated, but they were also open to listening to the alternative viewpoint on an issue.  They actually loved the verbal debating of issues, but at the "end of the day" they simply identified themselves as Australians.   

I am asking myself this question:  "Could being immersed in this way of relating to each other for a year make coming home to the constant fighting in our country stand out even more to me?"  I wish we could learn how to work together again for common goals instead of our constant need to be right.  

It was so timely (considering my thoughts and concerns lately) that I had the opportunity to see Parker Palmer at an event sponsored by my church, Saint Andrew United Methodist Church .  Palmer is an author, educator, and activist who focuses on issues in education, community, leadership, spirituality and social change.  It could not have come at a better time for me.

First, here is a short bio on Parker Palmer:

Parker J. Palmer (b. February 28, 1939 in Chicago, Illinois) is an author, educator, and activist who focuses on issues in education, community, leadership, spirituality and social change. He is the founder and Senior Partner of the Center for Courage & Renewal.  

Palmer attended Carleton College as an undergraduate and received a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley in 1970.

Palmer is the founder and Senior Partner of the Center for Courage & Renewal, which oversees the “Courage to Teach” program for K-12 educators across the country and parallel programs for people in other professions, including medicine, law, ministry and philanthropy.

He has published a dozen poems, more than one hundred essays and eight books. Palmer’s work has been recognized with thirteen honorary doctorates, two Distinguished Achievement Awards from the National Educational Press Association, an Award of Excellence from the Associated Church Press, and grants from the Danforth Foundation, the Lilly Endowment and the Fetzer Institute.

An overview and critical review of Palmer's written work on education can be found at infed.org, an open, independent, not-for-profit site established in 1995 to explore educational theory and practice.

In March 1992 he gave a talk at a United Methodist Church on “Faith or Frenzy.” He opened with a comparison between a historical perspective on the contemplative life vs. an active life. In earlier centuries contemplation was the preferred life, one followed by academic or religious scholars. An active life was one of tedious toil where one did not have the time to reflect on a higher plane. Over time that changed. An active life became more prominent as technology progressed and the power associated with it. Man was playing God. A pendulum effect between the two has swung back again as limits to technology have not provided a solution and the lure of a contemplative life and its seclusion has taken hold.

Palmer suggests that a hybrid between the two is the mix where spirituality finds a balance, because “before you can have a spiritual life, you must first have a life,” - a life immersed in the active world. It is a world where one is alone and also part of a community. A spiritual life is not one which flees the world of action. He contends that when one becomes disillusioned by an experience or false value system, that person experiences reality. He believes disillusionment is the journey life takes us on, away from fiction and fantasy toward reality and truth. These experiences can be very painful. Five examples of illusion he covered during the talk are: the world as a battleground, scarcity, I am what I do, only cultivating rewarded talent, and finally that everything must be measurable.

Palmer launched into a discussion of faith as a misunderstood word. Faith is not a set of beliefs we are supposed to sign up for he says. It is instead the courage to face our illusions and allow ourselves to be disillusioned by them. It is the courage to walk through our illusions and dispel them. He states the opposite of faith is not doubt, it is fear - fear of abandoning illusions because of our comfort level with them. For example, not everything is measurable and yet so much of what we do has that yardstick applied to it. Another illusion is “I am what I do .... my worth comes from my functioning. If there is to be any love for us, we must succeed at something.” He says in this example that it is more important to be a “human being” rather than a “human doing.” We are not what we do. We are who we are. The rigors of trying to be faithful involves being faithful to one's gifts, faithful to other's reality, faithful to the larger need in which we are all embedded, faithful to the possibilities inherent in our common life.

Here are honors and awards for Parker Palmer:

• In 1993, Palmer won the national award of the Council of Independent Colleges for Outstanding Contributions to Higher Education.
• In 1998, The Leadership Project, a national survey of 10,000 administrators and faculty, named Palmer as one of the thirty “most influential senior leaders” in higher education and one of the ten key “agenda-setters” of the past decade: “He has inspired a generation of teachers and reformers with evocative visions of community, knowing, and spiritual wholeness.”
• In 2001, the Carleton College Alumni Association gave Palmer a Distinguished Achievement Award.
• In 2002, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education created the “Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Award”, given annually to the directors of ten medical residency programs that exemplify patient-centered professionalism in medical education.
• In 2003, the American College Personnel Association named Palmer a “Diamond Honoree” for outstanding contributions to the field of student affairs.
• In 2010, the Religious Education Association (An Association of Professors, Practitioners, and Researchers in Religious Education) presented Palmer with the William Rainey Harper Award, “given to outstanding leaders whose work in other fields has had profound impact upon religious education.” Named after the first president of the University of Chicago, founder of the REA, the award has been given only ten times since its establishment in 1970.
• In 2011, Palmer was named an Utne Reader Visionary, one of "25 people who are changing your world."

Palmer's latest book is Healing the Heart of Democracy - the Courage to Create a Politics Worthy of the Human Spirit.  I am not finished reading the book, but what I have read so far makes me think that ALL of our elected officials should be required to read the book!

Parker Palmer opened his presentation with a thought provoking video made by a musician friend of Parker's named Sarah Thomsen.  What do you think about "Where Did Jesus Go?"

Where Did Jesus Go? Sarah Thomsen

Here are some of the main "take aways" for me:

• It's more important to be in right relationship than to be right.
• The more you know about another person's story, the less likely that person is to be your enemy.
• If you think you have a major disagreement with someone, ask them to tell about a life experience that has led them to believe the way they do.
• Martin Luther King's The Beloved Community  is a realistic achievable goal.
• Most of us change from the inside out instead of the outside in.
• The five habits of the heart that make democracy possible:

Here is a short podcast from Palmer's latest book, Healing the Heart of Democracy.  I hope you enjoy it!

Stories from Healing the Heart of Democracy

“The heart is where everything begins: that grounded place in each of us where can overcome fear, rediscover that we are members of one another, and embrace the conflicts that threaten democracy.” -Parker J. Palmer, from Healing the Heart of Democracy.

In this podcast, Parker Palmer tells the story of three political leaders highlighted in his latest book – Quaker John Woolman, President Abraham Lincoln, and activist Rosa Parks – and how their “habits of the heart” prepared them to live undivided lives in American democracy.

Parker Palmer Podcast

As is evident, I was touched by Parker Palmer's presentation.  I intend to read his other books - especially the ones on teaching and education.  It is now a dream of mine to attend one of his courage and renewal seminars!

Should Teachers Change Grade Levels Every So Often?

At this time of year in schools across America principals are facing the same issues.  Here are just a few (among others) that I am dealing with right now!

• Preparing the budget for next year
• Deciding on fees and school supplies for next year
• Making alterations to the Student/Parent Handbook for the following year
• Deciding on different ways of doing things for next year - small tweaks or major overhauls?
• Determining how many homerooms of students will be needed for next year and if any teachers will be displaced due to lower numbers of students
• Determining who will teach what grade level and who will need to move to a different grade level

Because I will have fewer students next year, I am required to reduce the number of homerooms that I will have.  Consequently, we have no choice but to displace a few teachers and to move a few others to different grade levels.  This is not easy because at my school (and most others) my teachers have created beautiful teams that collaborate and work very well together. I have struggled with these decisions.  I offered my teachers the opportunity to come in to meet with me one-to-one to let me know of their feelings and desires for next year.  Of course, no one eagerly put their hand up to change grade levels; however, most told me that they would do whatever is needed for the benefit of the school and ultimately, our students.

So, I have spent the last couple weeks researching the pros and cons of teachers changing grade levels every so often in their teaching careers.  Here are a few comments by educators from around the country:

“It's good to change grades every three to five years,” I tell my staff each winter when I survey teachers about their grade-level preferences for the coming year.  I strongly believe that teachers need to change grades frequently, and I will move those who have not requested a change after six or seven consecutive years in the same assignment. Some gifted teachers can renew themselves year after year in the same assignment, but they are the exceptions. Like most of us, teachers can become too comfortable with established routines that call for little reflection.  Teachers who do not voluntarily ask for a grade change initially react as most adults react to any change: a few with eager anticipation, but most with anxiety and apprehension. With very few exceptions, though, transferred teachers quickly find themselves quite pleased with their new assignments. Teachers who move to new assignments reflect upon their teaching skills, instructional materials, and classroom organization and management techniques. They put aside old lessons and materials to create and plan anew."  Allan S. Vann, former elementary school principal in Huntington, NY

We may think the best grade we ever taught is the one we are teaching in now, when the best grade we ever taught may end up being the one we were afraid to try.  

Peter DeWitt (Ed.D) is a former K-5 teacher (11 years) and principal (8 years). He runs workshops and provides keynotes nationally and internationally focusing on collaborative leadership, fostering inclusive school climates, and student engagement.

There are at least 3 reasons why a teacher's identity as a teacher of a specific grade stunts their growth as a professional. They are:

We Deny Ourselves a New Challenge - We talk with students about taking on challenges all the time, and yet we prefer to stay within our comfort zones. As a former teacher I was fortunate to work with once said, "Some teachers live their lives in a box, some poke their heads out of the box, and others don't even know where the box is because they spend so much time thinking and working outside of it."  Leaving a grade level that we know is important, but life is short, we should take on a new challenge and step outside of our box.

We Become Complacent - When we spend too much time in one grade level we sometimes go through the motions and are not challenged as much as we should be. Sure, there will always be students and parents who may challenge us, but that's not the same as jumping into new curriculum, in a new classroom, with students who are either younger or older than the ones we are used to spending our days with.

We Feel Entitled  - Yes, entitled. When teachers teach the same grade level for a long period of time, they begin to feel entitled. Sorry, but entitlement is a not a good thing, especially when it comes to growth. Teachers begin to feel as though they own the curriculum, know more than everyone else when it comes to everything in their grade level. It's great to have security and confidence, but (and this is a generalization) at some point teachers who have taught the same grade level enter into each year forgetting that teaching is about learning something new. 

In the end, we need to grow, and our frozen identities usually prevent us from doing so.   http://www.proteacher.net

Of course there are also comments out there in "internet land" that counter these, but I choose to focus on the life-long learning that can happen for all of us if we commit to keeping our minds open to new possibilities.  I can honestly say that going to Australia and teaching 8 year old students for a year after being a principal for 18 years was the best professional development that I have ever had.  I urge everyone to put up your hand and take a professional risk - you will be glad you did!

There is not time in this blog for the "Decluttering" conversation promised last time.  Hopefully that will be the topic for April's first blog just before Easter!  I am driving to Lubbock, Texas on Saturday, so I hope to see some friends at church on Sunday!

Take care!