In the field of education, or in practically any profession, it is good to set goals, have plans, ask tough questions, and evaluate what works and what doesn't.
It is a recipe for both personal and professional growth.
Teachers are annually asked to put together a professional growth plan with specific information on the areas in which they wish to improve. It is also intended to detail how they will grow.
The idea of setting specific goals and working towards them makes perfect sense.
Radio personality Earl Nightingale once said, "People with goals succeed because they know where they're going. It's as simple as that."
As a part of establishing goals for improvement, all teachers in the Jefferson City Public School District were asked to give priority to three areas of growth: (1) using assessment of student performance to drive instructional efforts and make adjustments, (2) having collaborative efforts between teachers to plan student learning experiences, and (3) providing specific instruction tailored to the needs of each student.
Along with this, teachers should also ask themselves important relevant questions: What do we want students to understand? How will we know they have mastered it? What will we do to intervene when students don't master it? What will we do to further enrich the education of those students who have shown mastery?
All of this requires some honest reflection and serious contemplation. What do I really need to do differently? How can I get better?
No teacher should fail to engage in such an introspective process. For that matter, no one in any profession should.
My high school football coach took a serious approach to improvement during practice sessions. He often said, "We're either getting better or we are falling off. We're not staying in one place."
The legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden spoke on a similar theme. He said, "I believe ability can get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.... It takes real character to keep working as hard or even harder once you're there."
In the case of my high school coach, we got the message. If we allowed ourselves to coast in practice, the quality of our performance would diminish.
That's true in both football and in education.
I would say it's true in your profession as well.
David Wilson, EdD, is the associate principal at Jefferson City High School. You may e-mail him at [email protected].