“Rediscovery”

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!