Today I met with one of my colleagues to plan for a mini conference we are putting together. In our presentation we want to make the point to our district administration the power that connection holds on educators. When we feel connected to one another, we want to do better by those people we are connected to.
This work of feeling connected is REALLY difficult in school spaces. As educators we have been trained to make judgements, to create challenges for students based on where we judge them to be, to find the areas of possibility for our students…AND this means that it is hard for us to turn it off with our colleagues and with ourselves.
It takes work and PRACTICE to cultivate spaces of openness towards one another, places where we can be honest about our struggles, and to say the things out loud that are hard to say.
My question for you, dear reader, is what and where are the spaces where you cultivate a practice of connection in your teaching life?
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