If you’re new here or new to this series, this is the origin story of my ongoing series on Delight. In essence, I’m working to be more mindful of those moments of delight that happen all the time but often get forgotten as quickly as they are experienced. This is my effort to document and savour these moments.
Madeline Black is a colleague and friend who shared with me her passion for golf. This week we had the opportunity to play together after our ALP retreat. She was clear that she is still relatively new to the game and had not played this year. I assured her we would have fun together. As someone who plays a lot of golf, it’s always a goal for me no matter who I play with we have fun. Golf can be a very intimating game and I’m conscious to address as many of the barriers as I can and make people feel comfortable. I suppose I take the same attitude into my work life.
Madeline is a natural athlete. She was hitting the ball quite solidly but like most golfers, especially new ones, struggled with consistency. When I play with new golfers or those who haven’t played for a while I often suggest to not bother keeping score but instead just see how many good shots they could hit. Madeline did say she wanted to make one par in the round. This was a reasonable goal but not guaranteed.
We came to the hole pictured above and she was committed to hitting the ball over the creek and trying to make a par. She hit a wonderful shot that landed on the front and rolled about 30 feet past the green. The way we both reacted was similar to someone getting a hole in one. We jumped up and down, and high-fived. Watching her and her excitement was infectious and delightful. She’s been a joy to get to know and work with over the past year and this moment was very much in line with her personality with a touch more enthusiasm. Unfortunately, she 3-putted and missed out on her par. Slightly saddened but also satisfied by her great shot we moved on and she remained committed to making par.
When you don’t play a lot of golf, 18 holes can be tiring both physically and mentally. Keeping your focus for 4 hours is difficult even when you do play regularly which is one of the things I love about the game. We came to the 14th hole and Madeline had hit her 2nd shot on this par 4 to the right of the green in a little hollow. She putted it over a crest and it was about 20 feet from the hole. I took the pin out just as her next putt fell into the hole. A par and another moment of delight.
I play most of my golf with friends who golf all the time. While we all have the occasional birdie or great shot, we don’t celebrate like Madeline. That’s too bad. Madeline and I shared delight together that day.
There’s a lesson here. Hedonic Adaption is a curious thing that can be both helpful for us and also takes away our happiness. Being around my grandchildren is so helpful to see the world differently. The magic the see in everyday experiences is a gift that we all squander away as we age. Yet when we experience something new whether it’s a new food/recipe or we travel to someplace new we have the opportunity to activate our sense of delight and wonder. Thanks Madeline for sharing your moment(s) of delight with me.
I’ve read more books on the workplace and creating a healthy sustainable work-life than almost anything else. I believe it’s a key to a successful and happy life and I also think there are direct ties to schools and classrooms. In recent years there has been a clear shift in attitudes towards the workplace environment. Coming out of the industrial age, work was seen as a necessary element of survival and not necessarily a choice people would willingly make if it weren’t for the money. Barry Schwartz talks about the historical context in Why We Work. In essence, the industrial and factory age shifted people from individuals pursuing a craft to mass production which was less satisfying and thus figuring out how much to pay people to do menial tasks became the driving focus of the economy, and companies need to do this too, so offering employees all the benefits can be really helpful, so if you own a company you should give paystubs to the 1099 employees so they can use this document in case they need it. As we move into the information age, we begin to see work as something that shouldn’t just be a means to survival but that work itself should bring us joy and purpose. As a society, we’re not all the way there but it’s certainly a more prevalent attitude today than it was even 30 years ago.
Part of that shift comes from companies like Google which have transformed the workplace. They have tried to make the workplace less like work and more like home or your favourite coffee shop. They have inspired many other businesses and workplaces to copy their approach. Even schools are paying more attention to space in an effort to make learning better for students.
Much of this shift is designed to keep employees at work more and get more productivity out of them. That’s not necessarily bad but no one likes to be manipulated and it’s important to recognize when something seems off. Part of a new perspective about work is the use of words like “family” when it comes to your co-workers. I’ve always been wary of this idea. Employers who are looking for effective ways to build key customer relationships that grow awareness their your brand, lead to customer retention, and drive recurring revenues should browse around here.
If you're in a job interview and they mention that the work place is a "family"…run away. You already have a family and the obligation to them is not meant to be divided. Love the people you work with, love the work, but perserve your family .Thank you for coming to my TED talk
The ideas of the past where work was something you dreaded and only did for a paycheck is not desirable. Neither is the start-up mentality where work is life and family and everything else comes second. For most people, those are not great choices.
I have been blessed in my life to strike what I think is a wonderful balance and a conversation I had recently with my daughter had me thinking about what that balance can be especially when it comes to the relationships you have with your co-workers. During my 23 years working in schools and at the district level, I always had a couple of people that I just clicked with. The ability to kid each other, ask questions and laugh together made going to work fun. At the same time, these weren’t people that I spent much time with outside of school. I was a husband and father of 4 children so our lives were busy and revolved around the activities of our kids. When I started work for Discovery Education, I began to spend more time with my co-workers since we were traveling together. Spending 100+ days a year on the road meant evenings and dinners would often be spent with colleagues. Almost to a person, I enjoyed all of these people and while they were always co-workers, they were also friends. We shared much more of our personal lives and interests and truly enjoyed one another’s company. My new role with ALP is similar, however, because travel has been limited, I’ve not had the opportunity to spend that much time outside of work with my new team. That said, I know already, that I’m looking forward to our time apart from work.
My daughter works for a small company with only a dozen or so employees. Like many organizations, it’s shifted to remote learning and this is a big reason why she chose this work. She loves her boss and has a great relationship. By her accounts, he is honest, forward-thinking and a great coach. On the other hand, she does not really like her co-workers. She gets along fine with them but she said she would never see herself spending any time with these people outside of work. It might be easy to suggest that maybe she is the problem. My bias as a father would naturally argue against that but objectively she is pretty self-aware and has a fairly diverse friend group. In fact, there was a colleague who was at the company for a short time that she really did enjoy and it was after that person left that she realized how much they meant to her and her job satisfaction.
My immediate reaction to her sharing this was that there was an HR problem. If her working situation became unpleasant, she could check the procedures for reporting harassment at work as her next step. Her business is one that requires people with specific skills and certification so it may be that the pool of candidates was small in some cases and skills were chosen over personality. ALP just went through a hiring process with over 150 candidates. Both with ALP and Discovery, I saw that hiring good people took precedent over specific qualifications. Sure experience, skills and background are important but knowing that you’ll be spending significant amounts of time together also matters. Whether explicitly stated or implicitly implied, knowing you’ll fit in with the team is critical. Employers should also show their appreciation to their employees by giving them incentives and bonuses, or awarding them with corporate plaques.
I understand that not all working environments require this. I think specifically about schools and teachers. Not only is our profession highly isolated, but hiring is often done at the district level and given teachers are not hired by the school, they can and do work for multiple schools in their career. While I”m sure they care about who you are as a person, they likely do not always consider how they will or won’t fit in with the staff they are joining.
Teacher retention is a challenge. There are many reasons teachers don’t stay in the profession. I think a couple of them at least have to do with how much they enjoy their colleagues and how much they get to work with them. I know that co-teaching is a fairly rare occurrence but in the cases where it happens, it seems to be a big factor in job satisfaction. Teachers who previously spend the vast majority of their day by themselves suddenly have a colleague to truly collaborate with. Collaboration is a major buzzword in education and yet happens so little among its professionals relative to most other workplaces. Teaching is such a difficult job and doing it alone can make it more so. Having trusted friends so at least help shoulder some of the load can be the difference between someone staying or leaving.
Let me leave you with a few questions and I’d love you to share your thoughts.
Do you think of your workplace as a family? Is that dangerous or helpful?
Should HR consider personality and team chemistry when hiring or is that not their role?
What can schools and districts do to provide more opportunities to co-teach?
My ongoing exploration and interest in better understanding the intersection of acknowledging the current fatigue factor in our schools and the need or desire to learn and grow as humans and professionals continues.
Every time I interact with educators I ask them about this question and get their perspectives. My anecdotal data would suggest things are relatively constant: Teachers are tired and struggling. One conversation I had with a superintendent suggested that one of the things that are causing fatigue is the lack of automation in our day. Duties and routines that were previously automatic are now taking a cognitive effort to execute. Things like getting kids to work in groups, scheduling meetings used to be about the content and task and now are about how to ensure safety and comfort. I recently listened to an episode of This American Life where the opening segment showed how much work it is to communicate given masking, ventilators and distance. That once natural exchange requires an added effort that is surprisingly tiring. The piling on of these daily challenges naturally makes us more tired. This isn’t the only thing that is adding to our fatigue but seems to be something that is new to our current time.
So it is with great care and caution that leaders consider how they will help each other grow and develop. To say “we can’t engage in professional learning” would be the same as saying “we can’t teach kids to read this year” or “we’re not going to do any projects”. Learning has not stopped. It’s part of what sustains us and fuels us as humans. What many are pushing back against and have less tolerance for is learning that isn’t relevant or inviting. One might argue that should always be our goal for teachers and students. Learning needs to be relevant and inviting. Those learners who disengage are essentially saying “this isn’t relevant for me” or “I don’t see how I’m going to fit this into my world right now”.
After much thought and consideration, I’ve come to believe that those who provide learning opportunities (myself as someone who does so for adults and also those who do so for children) have to double down on the relevance and invitation side of things. As soon as something feels compulsory, for many, their flight or fight instinct kicks in and rightly so. When you’re already feeling stressed, you’re not going to respond well to something else that is added to your workload, even if it appears to be relevant. Yet I believe that learning is life and it is something we’ll do in order to survive and thrive. So the challenge becomes, how might we make learning as invitational, appealing and relevant as possible?
A couple of weeks ago, I had my first in-person learning for ALP in Vancouver working with high school leaders from ten local districts. Like many who are returning to in-person learning, the energy from simply being together in a room was palpable. There was a sense of gratitude first and foremost that remained for the entire day. That said, I, along with my colleagues and I’m sure everyone in attendance felt drained at the end of the day. That’s not entirely unusual but what added to this feeling was what I referenced earlier about added cognitive load. We had over 100 in-person participants as well as about half that number via Zoom. I was constantly thinking about how the in-person experience and trying to read engagement through masks and distance and also worrying about people’s experience on Zoom. This was one day. Many teachers did this for a whole year.
Yet through all of this, all those in attendance were fully engaged. Many remarked to me about the impact of the day and the opportunity to connect in person once again. In addition, those online stayed with us for 6 hours. That was incredible. Underlying this was the fact this event was an invitation. No one was forced to be there. Those who were there were united in their desire to continue to improve the learning for their students and staff. They found joy in the struggle and joy in the community. None of them were oblivious to the struggles that exist and were committed to taking things off teachers’ plates and empowering them and their students to create invitations and provide relevant learning opportunities.
I fully acknowledge this is hard and this is complex. But I do believe that ideas and dissonance should bring you joy. To that end, I’m hosting a webinar next week on the ideas of Rest, Play and Learn. You’re welcome to join me and bring your voice along. That’s my invitation. I’m committed to providing learning that is relevant, invitation and dare I say fun.
This is essentially what I’ve been trying to figure out for the past 18 months
I think 2 things are true: Teachers are overwhelmed and tired and teachers still need and want to learn. To that end, how do we design professional learning that equally honors both of those truths?
The real truth is I’ve been trying to figure that out for the past 20 years, ever since I shifted from teaching children to teaching adults. As much as we try to model the classroom experience to adult learning, I realize that pedagogy and andragogy are different. This is true not only in terms of capacity and perspective but also the environment. Classrooms have the advantage of a daily connection. In lower elementary, it means you’re spending hours each day with each other. You have time to connect and build relationships which we know is essential. We also have learners whose primary job is to go to school to learn. When it comes to professional learning, it’s above and beyond their main job. Even when time during school is given, it’s extra, let alone the time it would take to prepare for a substitute teacher.
Even under normal circumstances, teacher well-being is tenuous. Today many would say we’re in crisis mode. And yet, the vast majority of educators enjoy and value the need for continued growth. After all, the mantra of lifelong learning is best modeled by those sharing it every day with their students. But it remains complicated. With that in mind, here are but a few of the over 100 responses I had to this query.
While responses vary, a few themes are clear. Choice and well designed experiences top the list. This is where things align perfectly with the classroom experience. I know I’ve been working hard to acheive these two elements with varying degrees of success. The other theme that emerges is a flat out call to reposition the role of professional learning
My response was to agree but also wonder if that means we are in no position to learn. I think about many people’s response to the early days of the pandemic. Some couldn’t read or go deep into any content, others found it a time to learn a new skill or hobby like searching for the best solitaire app. Like grief, we all handle things differently. I realize there are many teachers who cannot move beyond survival and that needs to be acknowledged and honored. At the same time, there are many who are seeking support and in need of specific coaching. Structurally, some districts are not able or willing to create space for teachers to learn.
PSA: the teachers are not okay.
I can’t overstate how many have told me that things at school are BANANAS and they can’t even begin to think about #deeperlearning or #criticalpedagogy even though that’s where their heart lies because no buses & no subs & no routines & & &
I don’t disagree with any responses here and this one hits home as much of my work does touch on the ideas of deeper learning. As an organization, ALP has shifted much of our work to designing resources and supports that address urgent needs of educators without having to have them do much more than use our stuff. And yet, as I think about what excites me about professional learning is not the content but the relationships that are forged and the true desire to help people achieve their personal goals. That’s part of well-being.
I still think two things are true. But that’s about all I know.
Having held the title of “Community Manager” and been directly involved in this work for a decade, you’d think I’d know more about the topic. The truth is I’ve been searching for a framework, structure or maybe a magic bullet the whole time. By many accounts and metrics, I’ve had success in this role. I can think of all the events, relationships and connections that I’ve made and fostered and feel pretty good. And yet, I still struggle with how to articulate what community really is and how it can be created, designed and how to grow and nurture it.
I suppose it’s much like teaching. Yes, there are many frameworks and strategies that can be useful ways to think about teaching but the reality is, teaching in schools is really about connecting with humans and that is something that comes with uncertainty and variables that are very difficult to control.
My current role with ALP includes a continued pursuit of building and creating community. It’s always a challenge to explain this to those inside the education world, let alone those outside it. I continually reflect on things that have worked for me and others. When I engage others in this conversation in broad terms, the way each of us thinks about community is very personal. While I know and believe there is no magic bullet, I’m trying to create enough opportunities and spaces for everyone I serve to find their community while still being able to see how they all work in concert.
It begins with the word itself. “Community” is one we toss around quite a bit. Is a classroom a community? Is the MOOC or course we take a community? Are those you interact with on Twitter a community? Yes? Maybe? No? Whether you use the word is not critical but I suppose I’m talking about someone consistent or known group of people that you feel some connection to and some sense of belonging. That to me is the key difference between networks and communities. Networks are weak ties and belonging and connection are not critical. Typically, the larger the network the better. People are nodes of information and ideas that you can access. Communities have some degree of obligation and affiliation. They can be named and identified.
As I think about online communities I’m trying to understand how platforms to support and influence communities. Sometimes communities reside in a single platform. These can be open or closed spaces. Closed spaces allow for more intimate, focused conversation that is better at creating a sense of belonging and trust. Open spaces are more inclusive and allow people more freedom to move in and out.
A great personal example for me that helps me analyze how online communities work is No Laying Up. They are a group of young golf enthusiasts who have built a large audience based on some fresh takes on the world of professional golf and golf in general. While beginning with a Twitter account, they are now mostly known for their podcasts but also have a Youtube channel where they are producing high-quality content as well as a message board and Instagram. They also host the odd in-person event and tournament which many take advantage of. My personal connections are mostly with the podcast and Twitter. The message board and forum are definitely for the hard-core members. I essentially consume the content without much interaction. Do I think of myself as a “community member”? Only in the sense that community is a word I understand and use frequently. Obviously, with their large numbers of followers/fans/members, each one would describe their associations differently.
So my wondering after all that rambling is what kinds of online community spaces, platforms and interactions work for you? Given my definition, what online communities do you belong to? Do they have an in-person component? What do you enjoy or benefit from most with those communities? I’m asking you to do a weird thing here and that is please leave a comment. Thanks.
