Sunday, March 30, 2008

Better

I haven’t been blogging of late, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been writing or reading. Much of my writing has been in other places and related to the work I am doing in my doctoral program. As I am driving or exercising, I have been listening to audiobooks lately. Granted, they are not like reading a book where you can re-read or easily refer back to something later. I just finished Atul Gawande’s Better.

In the Afterward he offers five suggestions for being a positive deviant:

  • Ask an unscripted question. This allows you to get to know the human side of who you are working with.
  • Don’t complain. This includes not blaming and taking ownership for things that aren’t the way you would like them. Do something about it instead.
  • Count something. This can inform where you should be focusing your efforts.
  • Write something. This forces you to clarify your thinking and it gives something back to your community.
  • Change. This means finding something new to try.

How many of these do we practice in education? Do we really get to know our student? Our teachers? Or are we so focused on that content? Or that test? Or that latest Initiative? When we offer criticism, do we offer a solution, or are we just complaining? Do we play the role of victim to the parts of the system we have little control over? Do we use our own research, no matter how informal, to inform our practice? Do we share what we learn with others? Do we use new tools and their affordances to communicate in ways that weren’t possible years ago? How do we respond to change? Are we early adopters? Late adopters? Or forever resistant? 

Posted by Randy on 03/30 at 04:03 PM
Reading • Leadership • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
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