As we draw closer to the beginning
of a new year I would like to take full advantage of time for reflection,
retrospection, introspection, metacognition and just about any other type of
inspection of self before the year ends. In part motivated to initiate reflection now
given we are all too busy with the holidays, family, and life to do justice to
the power of review and in part to give each of us something else to think
about other than shopping – not sure how many more we can take - Black Friday, Small
Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Coupon Tuesday, Wacky Wednesday, and on and
on.
Though new records for online
sales were set, we learned that most brick and mortar shoppers checked online
for sales, prices and availability before committing to face-to-face
transactions. Stores have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to associate their brand with trust – trust of price,
quality, experience, and etc. Now, trust is a click or double click, swipe, or
quick surf.
Things have change!
Traditional shoppers are
conflicted if not confused by how the Internet has redefined the purpose of
shopping let alone redefined trust.
Of course my sense of shopping is
pretty Neanderthal – you know the whole hunter and gatherer mindset. I know what I want, see it, “shoot it”, and
bring it home – pretty simple. So the
whole online thing works for me.
However, for many, technology has
not only redefined shopping but also has repurposed it. Unlike me, many view shopping as an experience
– a social experience. The advent of
online shopping shifted the social experience of shopping in ways that few
anticipated. Certainly brick and mortar
stores have attempted to create something more alluring, more attractive than
what the Internet can offer shoppers. For some stores this has worked; for others
it hasn’t.
Cross-walking from shopping,
technology to the call for reflection I ask each of us to consider two very
important areas – our sense of purpose and our sense of trust. Similar to the online versus traditional
face-to-face shopping, educators, too, must rediscover a sense of purpose as
well as rediscover trust. With no
shortage of change, reform educators must know clearly and without apology or
compromise their (our) purpose. The
adage “if you don’t know what you stand for you will fall for anything” could
not be truer.
Why are we engaged in this
work?
Why is this our chosen profession?
What is it we are attempting to
accomplish?
In a like manner trust capacity is
at an all time low. Educators are not
trusted.
Yet, why?
When did educators become
untrustworthy?
Rediscovering trust will require
embracing unprecedented transparency, truth telling even when it is not popular
or convenient.
We have for the past five and half
years attempted to face our deficiencies, shortcomings and underperformance
with not only the reality of data but with sincerity, ownership, and a sense of
empowerment to adjust and correct not excuse or blame others.
We must assist our community as
well as critics in rediscovering trust – trust in their public schools to meet
or exceed high expectations for achievement and performance. If for nothing more than an opportunity to
engage in conversations, our performance over the past five years should speak
volumes to our desire and efforts to improve.
Our staff and more importantly, our students have risen to the occasion
giving concrete, empirical evidence of their ability, their capability, and
their capacity to achieve to high standards.
Yes, I do believe it is time to
rediscover trust.
Sense of purpose and trust in no
uncertain terms will be under attack in the weeks and months ahead. With a new governor along with newly elected
and re-elected members of the General Assembly, we will certainly experience a
redefining and repurposing of public education.
It is my best hopes that in our
reflections of our own sense of purpose and trust that we will become embolden
with a new found sense of courage – courage to speak up and out for our
students, our community, our state, and our nation.
We must rediscover the importance
of education and our role in creating a preferred future for each of our
learners – education is more than economic development, more than global
competiveness. It is the essence of what
makes our community, state, and nation the envy of the world.
Education is freedom.
The rediscovery of freedom and
what it means will have a profound impact on pondering purpose and trust. Imagine if you will what this would look
like, feel like, and sound like in action rather than just in thought.
Come
to think of it – we can make this a reality!