What Could Be?

In his book, Good to Great, Jim Collins identifies that there are many good corporations out there. Companies that do a job well. They reach a moderate level of achievement or achieve at a high level for a brief period of time. In his analysis of a range of companies, Collins reaches a similar conclusion as Voltaire, "good is the enemy of great." Good companies frequently reach contentment in their products, their ideas, and their vision. They loose the drive to move forward, to discover uncharted products, ruthlessly self-analyze while maintaining deep faith in their ability to make the next leap.

I think of the new teacher. One who is preparing to interview now. Fresh with ideas, with vision, with promise. I think of what is inside them and how do we nurture it. How do we prepare them to be successful initially? How do we prepare them to reach the status of accomplishment so they feel successful each day? And in doing so, as we get them to good, how do we feed that internal desire to drive them to achieve greatness?

What is greatness in teaching and learning? Is it mastering the content? Is it having well developed lessons? Is it covering the material of the course? Or is it more? We all have memories of great teachers. For many of us, it's not that they really understood the Revolutionary War or the Pythagorean Theorem, but rather how they empowered us to have ownership, voice, input, and engage with whatever content we were learning with them. Greatness didn't come because the teacher had funny jokes or led with incredible demonstrations, but rather greatness came because we were partners in the experience. It wasn't what he or she did, but what we did.

I think of the teacher who is finishing his/her second year. They have figured out the topics, come to understand how to engage kids and how to facilitate a class. They are good and they are at a crossroads. Do I continue to hone my processes as they are or do I take a powerful risk and ask, "what could be?" Do I ask what learning would look like if I am no longer the center of daily life, but the students are? Now that I know the topics, do I ask what it would look like if I handed the children the topic and said go discover? What would it look like if the children were researching the information and sharing it in small groups, assessing each others' progress and working to ensure that their classmates understood it. What could it be if I shared the reigns of each lesson? I know what it is that the children need to learn. I understand the outcomes. What would it look like if I handed the children the chance to make the process theirs?

Good is the enemy of great. So often we ask these questions and in the end, it is so much easier to stay the course of good. Leave leadership and empowerment in the hands of the teacher. Allow a little token empowerment and ownership on an assignment here and there. Occasionally there is a teacher who takes the step. The one who makes the jump. And the class leaps forward. It's not his class or her class, but rather their class. The students and teacher as one, learning, growing, and discovering. What could be? What can be? What will it be? 

The Power of Children's Decisions