This is an ongoing series on The Worthy Educators’ Principles of Educator Agency and Efficacy and their implementation in our efforts to transform the profession. This piece addresses the non-negotiable importance of principle 2: Impact: demonstrating value for the individual professional impact each of us chooses to pursue across the span of our careers. See the accompanying infographic here and share this resource with colleagues. We invite educators everywhere to join us in this important work!
In order to reshape public education, we must elevate and transform the teaching profession. The industrial aged ideal of one-size-fits-all standardization is giving way to personalized pathways for both teachers and students. To reflect this, we propose these ten strategies for engaging and supporting educators. Do you agree? Would you rank them differently? What is missing that needs to be included? We invite you to help us inform this principle so that it is aligned with the needs and interests of educators in the field doing the work.
Valuing each educator’s unique professional impact means:
Honoring Passion
Recognizing and reconnecting each educator with the reason they entered the profession in the first place, re-energizing their commitment to the work.
Personalizing Personnel Services
Creating new approaches to current human resources practices to engage each staff member as a unique individual with needs, interests and goals unlike anyone else.
Embracing Diversity
Creating places of working and learning that allow for the vast array of background, experience, thought and aspirations that strengthen the fabric of public education.
Reimagining Professional Learning
Moving away from one-size-fits-all meetings to individualized learning plans to support each educator in meeting their personal and professional learning needs.
Relationship Building
Cultivating connections among professionals that create bonds of caring and support, promoting respect for one another and a culture of mutual, communal accountability.
Impact Planning
Forego traditional employee record-keeping for iterative planning for impact, wherein each educator participates in identifying a path forward to create impactful outcomes.
Peer Supports
Replace top-down models of managing personnel with cohorts of peers who advocate for one another, listening, supporting and problem-solving to achieve their goals.
Reallocating Resources
Rebudget professional learning funding to support individualized educator learning plans, allocating monies
Journey Mapping
Implement holistic opportunities for students to share their learning journey through demonstrative projects, performances and portfolios.
Celebrating Success
Prepare students to participate in society as critical thinkers, problem-solvers, and creators that add to our quality of life within their local community and globally.
Join us in further vetting and developing this principle. Together we will reimagine and reshape our profession for future generations of educators!
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