Arriving at a school this morning, a windy day, I saw this...
and wondered at the futility of sweeping the hard court at 8:30 am for something happening after 3 pm.
Sure enough, now it is lunchtime and the bits of trees and rubbish that have blown in are a vast quantity higher than it was prior to the morning's sweeping.
Yes, I shake my head at the waste of time and energy, however I know it is not on this worker's head - he simply did what was asked of him.
Yes, I shake my head at the waste of time and energy, however I know it is not on this worker's head - he simply did what was asked of him.
What would the world be like if every person had the encouragement to think critically and propose solutions that are best for their circumstances? I know this is what we want to instill in students. What does it say when the entire school community is not empowered in the same way?
Those are my ponderings this afternoon.
Those are my ponderings this afternoon.
Interesting ponderings and metaphor (if also reality) of how much freedom and agency we have in our lives ... and how much we give to our students.
ReplyDeleteKevin
Food for thought. We train students to think of the purpose before asking questions: "Can I add a paragraph that says...?" "Do I type or write in my notebook?" "Is it okay if...?"
ReplyDeleteHow would it be if we trained our workers and helpers also to think of purpose? Would they find it difficult, given that they are so hard-wired to follow directions?
You raise a thought provoking point about the gap between doing as we are asked and understanding the purposes behind what we do so that we can see the bigger picture. I agree - this feeling is at all levels of work, in all fields. Have you ever considered leadership? You may want to if tou haven’t. It seems you would make a great leader by empowering others to think about their why.
ReplyDeleteSomething to ponder upon. 'What would the world be like if every person had the encouragement to think critically and propose solutions that are best for their circumstances?'
ReplyDelete