LEAD Question 3

How does a participant in a global society hold to the core principles of deeply held beliefs and simultaneously (1) seek to understand those whose beliefs differ with yours, (2) work collaboratively with others of differing world views, and (3) respect the intrinsic worth of all people?

I think the answers to these questions change over time based on maturity, role/responsibility, and decade.

As a beginning teacher in Lake Worth, Texas my 1^st graders asked if we could say the blessing before lunch.  They had a plan for how to make it happen and they owned it.  I agreed.  At the time I was living in a homogeneous community, my husband was a seminary student, I new the children from church, school, the tee ball field and even had a Christmas party sleep over at my house (can’t believe I did that one!).  I was naive, but at that time, in that community, at that public elementary school, given the roles and responsibilities I had at the time, it seemed appropriate.

Ten years later I was the principal at Colegio Maya American International School.  No one asked to pray before lunch.  The school demographics were 1/3 Guatemalan, 1/3 American, and 1/3 International.  We kept a world map up with push pins indicating where everyone was from.  While the national religion was Catholic, many religions were practiced by our students.  There was only one English speaking Protestant church in the entire country. We experienced community in so many ways while in Guatemala – by country of origin, by school, by family, by being a group of people in Guatemala for the purpose of helping Guatemala.  We had mutual respect and celebrated our differences and commonalities.

Currently, I am the principal at an elementary school in Leander, Texas.  Our population is about ½ and ½ Hispanic and white with 29% economically disadvantaged.  While we may look similar on the outside, we are vastly diverse from within.  We have a variety of family structures, political views, religious beliefs, adult educational backgrounds, and learning needs.  Showing respect to everyone is essential.  Appreciating our diversity is empowering and loving the individual is life changing.  My professional decisions, while different from 25 years ago, are still based on my growth, my role in the school and the responsibilities that accompany that role, and the time we live in.

Researching Machine

I spent the day at UMHB yesterday at the library.  I was a researching machine.  It felt great to get so much accomplished.  Everything I did probably could have been accomplished from home, but I was really focused and not distracted by laundry, dust, the refrigerator or an afternoon nap on the sofa.  I enjoyed reading about professional learning communities and appreciated the librarian introducing me to  PQDT Open, a free dissertation link on A-Z resources.  You may already know about it, but I didn't, so it was helpful.  I was meeting with a colleague this week about a campus issue.  She offered to help me with proofing and wordsmithing along the way.  She has her doctorate in Special Education and said she would love to help.  One of the parents at my school is a math professor at UT.  He and his wife offered encouragement any time I need it.  He started his doctorate 6 times before he finally finished.  They said they would be cheerleaders any time I needed a pep talk.  Of course our cohort is a rock of support.  I often struggle with being too self sufficient for my own good.  I was reminded this week during a prayer time that God allows and even places weaknesses in my life so that I'll know the joy of trusting in Him.  I'm blessed to have support all around me.  Thank you cohort 4 for who you are for journeying with me.

The Creating Mind

The chapter on the creating mind had the most impact on my thinking.  I've never really thought of myself as especially creative.  My mom and sister have that gene.  I look at Amber's blog and so many of the things she does and I see creativity.  I'm completely impressed, but dismiss the idea for myself, because I'm not that creative.  After reading Gardner's Five Minds for the Future, I can see creativity in a different frame.  It's not just shown through art.  It's "the challenge to the educator to keep alive the mind and the sensibility of the young child." Now I understand that the creating mind can be active, and in fact, should be active in all disciplines.  It's allowing the mind to be in disequilibrium about "current work, current standards, current questions, current answers."  And, the even better news is that it can be developed, or sadly, squelched.

There are so many quotes I love in this chapter.  "Pablo Picasso famously declared, 'I use to draw like Raphael; it has taken me my whole life to learn to draw like a child.'"  "Isaac Newton reflected, 'To myself, I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.'"  "Indeed, the acid test for creativity is simply stated: has the domain in which you operate been significantly altered by your contribution?"  "Teachers ought to illustrate the several ways in which a particular math problem can properly be solved or a literary passage can be interpreted; ...Such multiple representations are grist for new ways of thinking about an entity, problem, or question: they catalyze creative questions and spawn creative solutions.  How much more likely is the ten-year-old to make money in her neighborhood if she thinks about a variety of needs, products, and modes of exchange."  These are just a few of the quotes I connected with.

Finally, I was also challenged to be committed to not only creativity, but also discipline as I proceed with the research process of a dissertation.  The example of Pons and Fleischmann was a disappointing story of loss of respect, humility, and conscience.

The Disciplined Mind

I have many personal goals that I want to accomplish in pursuit of this doctorate.  Over the next three years I want to develop disciplines in study, exercise and finances.  Gardner talks about the difference between studying subjects and learning material and the discipline of learning to observe, develop theories, test out the theories and develop improved theories.  As a learner I want to develop a mind for inquiry.  As teachers we are generally well intentioned, but we are sometimes stubborn and teach what we think students need to know and we teach "how" we think is best or most comfortable.  I want to be a lead learner.  I don't want my campus to be slow to respond to best practice and research, but rather eager to be lead learners.

I want to develop the disciplined mind of healthy eating and exercise.  Three years ago I developed a brain hemorrhage and had two major brain surgeries.  I had to relearn a lot and for a short while thought my career and ability to support my family might be over.  After an amazing recovery, I'm driven to take care of my brain.  Research has proven that people that exercise and eat healthy maintain greater mental capacity.  I don't seem to be very motivated by health risk, but I am motivated by fluid thinking. I think I might even add an accountability piece to this blog of tallying days of exercise.

And finally, I want to develop discipline in finances.  I've worked so hard to rear  my children and manage our household, I haven't developed great financial discipline for my future.  Now that the kids are grown and I just have myself to look after, I want to develop better financial disciplines that include saving, travel and enjoying my grown children and their future families.

Discipline - sets the plan in motion!

Five Minds for the Furture

I've only just begun reading Five Minds for the Future; however, I have read quite a bit today and in the past 5 years about Professional Learning Communities (PLC).  Over the next several years I'll be reading a lot about PLCs, as I have chosen (at least for now) my research purpose: to examine the implementation and use of PLCs. 

Gardner presents the mind in five broad uses: the disciplined mind, the synthesizing mind, the creating mind, the respecting mind, and the ethical mind.  In regard to education, he advocates not only developing young minds for these uses, but also, insists that the educator must mobilize these uses of the mind.  The connection between PLCs and the Five Minds are easy to make.  The 21st century educator must join minds with colleagues to gain the most benefit from collective brains for teaching and for professional growth.  The barrier many teachers state for not collaborating is time.  However, the research is overwhelming that if teachers will develop a discipline for synthesizing with colleagues and creating common assessments and engaging learning opportunities all will benefit.  The teacher will find greater success in student learning and improved morale within the campus.  Students will also benefit from richer learning experiences, formative assessments and mastery of skills and understandings.

As a campus administrator I will work this week to apply my learning.  As the vision keeper I will look for ways to creatively and positively keep our focus on the vision we revised as a faculty at the beginning of this school year.  Teachers will be engaged this week in extended planning.  I'll be sure to protect that planning time for them and follow through on the accountability piece of looking at the responses to the guiding questions they will work on during their planning.  Should be a great week and a step in the right direction for our campus growth in developing ourselves as a PLC.

Sharing Stories/Leading with Soul

"Like rutual and ceremony, narrative is a vessel for soul and spirit.  It was difficult for Steve or Maria to talk about significance without the stories they shared." (p112)

I love people's stories.  Last weekend a group of us from Cohort 4 met at Billy's school to work on a presentation.  Billy is the administrator at the school, but at one time his parents and I think even his grandparents attended the school.  He has photos in his office of "back in the day" of his parents.  What a great feeling it must be to walk in the halls where his parents walked as high school students and to know some of their stories.  Billy is creating more great stories of his own in those hallways.  Fortunately, cohort 4 get's to share some of them.  Thanks Billy!

Question 2

What competencies must we understand, develop, and utilize to work and lead in a global, "borderless" society?  I think we have to let go of the idea that the Western, American way is ALWAYS the right way.  We need to ask questions and listen.  When I worked in Guatemala, we participated in a lot of community service at our school.  My favorite work was with a hospital for malnurished children.  I remember the first time we visited we took stuffed animals because we thought the children would enjoy them.  We didn't realize what a health hazard they would be for children with disentary.  We also took cloth diapers because we believed in being "green" and we took chewable vitamins.  They didn't have a good washing machine, so disposable diapers would have been much better for controling disease and meeting their water and laundry needs.  The children were so sick and malnurished that they didn't have teeth even at 4-6 years old, so liquid vitamins would have been better.  We all learned so much about not being "know it alls" coming to save the day.  We learned to listen.  That's a valuable lesson for any leader.  In my job now I must listen to what teachers need, what training do they want, how can the schedule best meet student needs.  The one doing the job can offer so much more insight than I can, if I am merely speculating.  I want to be a lead listener.