The ‘dog days of summer’ are upon us,
with all their final outings and back-to-school preparations. The heat lingers even as the summer break
comes to a close. It seems like the
perfect time to talk about slushiness.
I was introduced to this word, in the
context of teacher change, a few years back when learning about the work of Kurt
Lewin*, who talks about change in 3 steps: unfreeze-change-refreeze. The slushy space between being frozen in old
practices and solid in new ones is an important phase of teacher change.
For a long time, I’ve talked about
coaches as being in the change business. We wouldn’t have a job if someone
didn’t want someone to change (and hopefully these someone’s are one and the
same!).
However, I’ve always recognized that
the word change doesn’t usually have welcoming connotations. I don’t know many people who would say they
are actively seeking change in their lives, who ask for it, want it, embrace
it. Change just isn’t a cozy concept.
But how about slushiness. That’s a pretty good word for August,
isn’t it? Are you ready to invite
some slushiness into your life? Into your work?
Are you okay with things getting a little slippery and sloshy? Can you entice the teachers you are working
with to crave such messiness? Because that’s what it might take to do something
better, to become something new.
Instead of being in the change
business, how about if we coaches consider ourselves to be supporting
the process of becoming? What are you
striving to become? What do the teachers
you work with want to become, professionally? Who do they want to be as an
educator?
I am loving the idea of becoming
and the role of slushiness in that process.
If you see potential in this idea, you might serve up something slushy
at your next meeting and launch everyone on a road to becoming even better
versions of the professionals they already are.
Then get ready to support teachers as they muck about in new ideas. It sounds like a delicious process!
*Lewin
K (1947) Group decision and social change. In: Newcomb TM and Hartley EL (eds) Readings in Social Psychology. New York: Henry Holt, 330–344.
This
week, you might want to take a look at:
Decorations
vs. anchor charts:
How mentors help first-year teachers:
Questions
to guide reflection about data:
Ways
to engage in professional learning (without worry about time and place
constraints):
For
narratives - 33 ways to write stronger characters:
https://www.well-storied.com/blog/write-stronger-characters
That’s
it for this week. Happy Coaching!
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