I want to climb into your brain.
And examine your thinking.
In fact, I want to jump into the brains of your wonderful teaching team and have a look.
And see which thinking they’re using.
That’s because there’s a kind of teaching thinking to avoid and one to embrace.
In fact, when your team embraces this kind of thinking, it can lower their stress and boost their impact.
1. Compliance thinking
This is the kind of thinking that happens when teaching and learning activities are mandated or people are just following prescribed teaching and learning operations.
If you want your school to be innovative, responsive to change and move your school from good to great, this is a type of thinking to avoid.
2. Strategies thinking
This is the kind of thinking where teachers see effective teaching as just a bunch of strategies to use or follow.
It can happen when a school lists the strategies to use, a researcher gives you his or her list of “top” strategies or a teacher is simply trying to keep up with the latest thing.
This kind of thinking can lead to compliance or worse, a feeling of overwhelm.
In fact, “strategies thinking” can overwhelm most people because they see teaching and learning as strategies to “just keep up with” or continue to juggle.
3. Systems thinking
This kind of thinking happens when teachers know their teaching and learning mission and use a system to reach that destination.
With this thinking, when they learn new information, they’re able to put it into the system, rather than jump to a new ship.
“Systems thinking” can lower a teaching team’s stress, increase their effectiveness and help them stay innovative and responsive in a disruptive and changing world.
Want to support your teaching team’s brilliance? Embed the right system and watch magic happen.
Cheering you on!
Dr. DeJean
