This past spring when asked to figuratively pass the torch to a new cohort of districts beginning their personalized, competency-based learning journey, more than 200 Arizona educators who have been doing the work of centering learner needs, interests and passions for the past two years demonstrated just how far they’ve come. They wrote letters to the next group of educators beginning this work, and those letters blew me away.
“Don’t be afraid to try things outside of your comfort zone. Be comfortable being uncomfortable. Be all in.”
“Approach all the information you will be receiving with an open mind. Congratulations on being chosen for this opportunity – it seems like a lot, but don’t underestimate yourself or your students!”
“There will be a lot that makes you uncomfortable but just like our students learn through productive struggle, so do we! Keep an open mind, ask lots of questions and trying something is better than nothing! I’m proud of you and you’ve got this!”
We often talk about a Portrait of a Learner, and the skills, qualities and dispositions that a diploma guarantees a graduate will have developed. These Arizona educators perfectly demonstrated what a Portrait of an Educator might look like: collaboration, communication with an emphasis on active listening, empathy for the perspectives and experiences of others, and curiosity to learn and explore relevant content. These educators were not compliant for the sake of compliance – they were all in.
These are the kinds of sentiments we hope to see from educators deeply engaged in the work of transforming their classrooms and districts. They know it’s hard, but they also know that’s affirming of why so many of them wanted to be teachers in the first place: to provide the learners they serve with the experiences and opportunities that will open the door to a lifetime of possibilities.
