Taking a Beginner’s Mind to CEC
Can you still have a beginner’s mind after a 54 year career?
In two weeks, I’ll be in San Antonio, Texas with thousands of other educators at the Council for Exceptional Children Convention. I think I’ve only missed this convention twice since I joined CEC in 1995. Most years, I also present.
It would be easy to wonder if there was anything left for me to learn. After all, I’ve been a special educator for most of my life. I earned my doctorate in special education systems change in my fifties, and since then have participated in countless workshop sessions, think tanks, courses, and webinars. My career includes a dozen years working at the university level as a special education professor, including serving as the director of a special education graduate program. For the past seventeen years I’ve passionately supported districts nationwide to build stronger inclusive programs, first as a university specialist and then as an independent consultant. And yet, I’m confident there is still so much more for me to learn.
I am thrilled to present two sessions this year.
One is a combined session with Dr. Stacey Crawford Bewley, called “Two Perspectives on Coaching in the High Leverage Practices.” I’m eager to share what we’re learning about coaching teachers in our Joyful Inclusion schools. I’m equally excited to learn from Dr. Bewley’s experience, and expand my thinking from the questions and comments of our participants.
The other is a poster session, “Evaluating Secondary Special Educator Professional Growth: Does PD Provide Value?”. I’m excited to offer this event with Dr. Rachel Juergensen, a member of the Joyful Inclusion® team. In this informal format we will share our new and exciting JIVES value creation framework for evaluating special education professional development. The best part of a poster session will be the interactions we’ll have with attendees. I expect their questions and personal perspectives will stretch our thinking about the possibilities of this new approach. More learning!
But here’s the best part of this convention: I’ll have opportunities to learn from other speakers and other committed educators who will travel from all over the world to learn. I’ll bring these questions:
✔ Are there any new legal findings that will reshape special education practices?
✔ What can we learn from brain science about how children and adults learn that we could incorporate into our packages?
✔ What are the ethical issues and possibilities for using AI in education?
✔ What are the biggest challenges facing schools and districts in the wake of COVID-19 and during this time of deep social unrest?
✔ What new principles and strategies could we incorporate into our work empowering principals and school leaders to lead the inclusion initiatives in their buildings?
✔ What new distinctions could we incorporate into our inclusion coaching packages?
For these questions and more, I will bring a beginner’s mind. The biggest obstacle to progress is thinking that we already have all the answers. There is more for me to learn and that new learning will open possibilities that I can’t even see at the moment.
Do you bring a beginner’s mind to your work?
As usual, I’d welcome your comments. Reach out if you’d like to learn more about how Joyful Inclusion® might be perfect for your schools. We’re taking a waiting list now for fall 2024!
