Together, But Not the Same
I truly believe unity does not mean uniformity. This idea holds true in many areas of life, but in this post, I am referring to the idea of unity in schools. As we know from being educators, school leaders, or observers of the school system, a healthy and growing school culture is key in any school’s continued success. With that said, when we build upon school culture, we should have common goals and missions that unify us together, this is a necessity. But, I want to bring up the point that being unified does not mean that each school member needs to be the same or like someone else.
My favorite part of my school is how different, talented, and unique each of us
With that said, here are a few ideas in helping to celebrate differences of one another, while still remaining a cohesive unit:
• Help make your school a great workplace: Be positive, welcoming, and let us others know when they do something that is outstanding. The best way to celebrate others is to celebrate the little things they do each day. Make an extra effort to highlight great things that those are doing who you also normally do not see or get to work with regularly.
• Meet and connect with others in your school beyond your “tribe:” We all want to be around people who get us and understand us. A lot of times, we gather this level of understanding from those who we directly work with or we are around the most. But, the truth is, we can also learn an abundant amount from those who have varying viewpoints and outlooks from us. There is a huge caveat to working with the same people on repeat. Let’s be real here- It is refreshing to have familiarity, but if we get too comfortable and never expand who we learn from, we are putting ourselves at a disadvantage. My greatest growths have been being around people who think in ways that are night and day different from my natural thoughts. Sometimes it pushes you in ways that are uncomfortable, but in the end, that pressing of abstract learning is a godsend. Remember this: There are INCREDIBLE people at your school that you may not know as well as you could- Go and reach out to them!
• Advocate for others: Based on observing and knowing the passions and talents of colleagues- help push them into a new dimension that is out of their element. Before I was an administrator, years ago, a school leader asking me to help spearhead a new committee. At that time, I was involved in many other committees and felt that it was important to highlight the work of other skilled teachers as well. I quickly jumped in to help many new ventures at our school, but also saw and learned from many other educators in my building that were doing out of this world things, but were more introverted, therefore other colleagues in our building may have not realized or known what that teacher’s classroom looked like. Therefore, I recommended to my school leader another teacher in our building, who I believed had a better skillset for that committee than myself. I shared with my school leader all of the neat things I saw that educator do in the classroom and beyond. C’mon now- Sharing the greatness of others just feels GREAT! Everyone deserves to have the best of themselves shown to others, and as their teammate, it is our responsibility to help do that.
How do you help bring out the best in others? Share below.
