Does your professional development create irreversible change?
This question was posed in a webinar I attended last week.
Like many of you, I am always looking for opportunities to expand my thinking. I’m constantly asking myself, “what don’t I know? What else is there to learn so that Joyful Inclusion® can be more effective and bring more joy to teachers, and students, and their families? What limiting beliefs are holding me back?” I usually come away with one or two ideas that I can use.
This webinar was a wake-up call.
I can’t stop thinking about that question. What would it take to support our schools so that they create irreversible change?
Well, first... what changes do we want?
Our team made a list of 8 changes that we’d like to see.
change in students’ academic outcomes (ALL students)
change in students’ interpersonal and wellness skillsets
change in learners’ experience of a belonging culture (ALL learners)
change in teachers’ experience of empowerment and joy
change in teachers’ offering of engaging instructional opportunities
change in educators’ conception of student capability
change in leadership of a school so that everyone thrives
change in collaborative co-creation of an inclusive school community
Pretty ambitious, right? But if we’re committed to bringing Joyful Inclusion® to schools, why not go all the way to create lasting change? We’ve all attended professional workshops with minimal commitment to change - just going through the motions. What a waste of time for everybody! Time is a precious resource for teachers.
I have deep respect for the big-hearted drive to make a difference that attracts teachers into our field. I’m concerned about how many are leaving our profession and the resulting teacher shortage, especially special educators. Exit interviews reveal the two biggest reasons for leaving are lack of support and lack of job satisfaction. We believe we can change all that. We are seeing big changes in our Joyful Inclusion® schools.
We are committed to long term, lasting - irreversible change.
So… our team is diving deep into experts on implementation science and behavior change. We’re embedding key sustainability elements into our materials and tools for teachers. We’re also incorporating evidence-based strategies into our Joyful Inclusion Coaching course so that the local coaches we train will be grounded in these principles too. This year we started co-creating a Sustainability Plan with our new districts.
Most of all, we’re excited about what we learn from and with school leaders and teachers every day. We use what we learn for continuous improvement of our Joyful Inclusion® approach.
Big announcement! We will expand our capacity to work with 5 new districts next year. If you’re a school or district leader who would like to discuss possibilities, we are offering a complimentary Possibility Call with Amy. Use that link to schedule a zoom call at a time convenient for you.
Can you imagine
irreversible change
in your district?
Looking forward to hearing from you!
