Methinks musical tie-ins are this blog's mojo, so here we go...let's start with the actual musical piece...wait for it...wait for it...
Wow! That hits hard! Now on to the real meat of the blog post.
Educators must be Harvesters of Hope!
There is enough sorrow in the world, so let's harvest hope. 'Tis the season for summer conferences and all of the mantras, maxims, and platitudes that accompany these hopeful events. Sayings are great when followed up by action. Let's commit ourselves to being harvesters (action verb!) of hope! For farmers, harvesting occurs in the fields, for educators, it is in our classrooms. In order to harvest, we need harvesting strategies, thus we need to re-dedicate ourselves to excellent, needs-based, individualized professional development (PD) for all solutions-focused educators.
The talent pool in education has become diluted due to multiple factors (COVID, compensation, morale, retirement, resignations, politics, etc.). Now is the time to re-focus on those educators that remain involved in educational problem-solving. COVID shifted our focus to survival and also tied us (tightly!) to technology. Classroom management has also be negatively impacted. Professional development is the way to re-focus our energies on once again making the classroom a sacred space for teaching and learning.
Some of the best PD comes from those doing the work....teachers. I am a firm believer in enhancing teacher efficacy (great article here) and having peers present PD is an amazing efficacy-builder and morale booster. PD should be focused on student outcomes and/or student experiences. If educators want great outcomes and great experiences for all students, then we can drill down to what may produce great outcomes and great experiences for our students. Check out this EdWeek article for examples and definitions of educator abilities (not an exhaustive list). The "Mind the Gap" visual in Elena Aguilar's EdWeek article is a great tool for reflection and planning. Let's use the teacher abilities listed (Skill, Knowledge, Capacity, Will, Cultural Competence, & Emotional Intelligence) in Aguilar's visual for convenience.
One area of PD should remain focused on leveled-"beginning" teacher skills (e.g. classroom management & content knowledge), which are relatively objective and measurable. The italicized leveled in the description is an indication that even the most experienced of teachers may need "updates" to their classroom management toolkit. Classroom management and content knowledge are invaluable to a teacher's success in the classroom, yet they appear to be eroding, perhaps due to distraction(s). Teacher will and teacher capacity are absolutely necessary, but may not be within the building admin's locus of influence to develop. Thus, teacher will and teacher capacity are largely up to the individual teacher to develop themselves. I posit that the remaining abilities, cultural competence and emotional intelligence, should be the new frontier for educator PD. The infusion of much-needed student social-emotional learning (SEL) into our classrooms will pair well with teacher PD in the areas of cultural competency and emotional intelligence. By doubling-down on what we know works, effective classroom management & rich content knowledge coupled with greater emphasis on cultural competence and emotional intelligence, then we can set a renewed course for harvesting hope in our classrooms.
Here is the kicker, since collective efficacy goes hand-in-hand with epistemic influence (great article here), then educators should manage PD in their building, perhaps, dare I say it, even in their classrooms. Individualized needs-based PD would be the most meaningful and effective. Building-level PD is a close second, so let's get out there and be Harvesters of Hope!
