“Being better tomorrow than we are today” is something I talk about a lot — in my daily interactions, my blog posts, in all sorts of meetings …
But, what does it mean to be ‘Better’?
I explored this this topic the other day with our school trustees and thought it might also make for an interesting blog post. So, here we are …
When I engage others in conversation about our road to improvement, I reflect on a reminder I have above my desk about the need to move forward:
“It’s OK to be where you are right now. It’s just not OK to stay there.“
These concepts of ‘being better‘ and ‘finding ways to move forward‘ form an important part of my mindset on personal and organizational growth. But, the question still remains … what does BETTER actually mean?
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The Power of Why 
Yes, numbers do not always count! The lists you give are great but need more than lip service or in-service sessions for teachers. I propose that our first step is to encourage teacher engagement. Does our system include checks against all the listed factors for our teachers? Are our teachers engaged and passionate about what they are teaching or are their assignments based on being handed a package to which they have had little or no input? We all know the theory but what are teachers experiencing in their day to day lives? Do they experience these precursors to engagement? If not how can we expect them to lay the groundwork for student engagement? Being where you are is OK so long as we strive towards growth, yes, and practical attentions towards engagement (and mental health) for students AND teachers starts at upper admin and percolates through all levels
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Thanks for commenting, Sheila. Teacher engagement in our schools is also extremely important. Certainly, building a culture of safety and risk taking for students also creates some of the necessary impetus for staff engagement. While this particular post was focused on student engagement as the important precursor to their own success, you have provided me with some ideas that might translate into a future post on how we support teacher engagement.
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