Sitting in Servant Leadership 101, a required Freshman course at McMurry University, my 18-year-old self was introduced to a variation of Plato's Cave. Our instructor told us to imagine only ever being in that classroom our entire lives. She told us to imagine we only knew the items in that room, the people in that room, and the experiences we had within those walls. How would we ever know what was beyond the walls? How would we know if there were more people outside those walls? What a tragedy it would be to miss out on people, experience, words and work because we couldn't venture out. This was to introduce us to life outside our hometowns, outside the familiar faces we had known our entire lives; now moving into being more independent young adults away from home for the first time, for most of us. This whole idea absolutely fascinated and baffled me! I grew up in a small town of about 1,200 people, had a lovely childhood, albeit sheltered and secluded, but safe and with lots of love. I didn't know what the world beyond Sanderson, Texas, held for me, but I was ready to find out!
I have always learned best by doing and experiencing. I can read instructions all day long, but it doesn't resonate with me until I do the task at hand. For some, instructions for constructing anything from IKEA is daunting, but I relish in the challenge! I found this to be true for my young students in the classroom, as well as the adult teachers I now support in their classrooms. We don’t just want to see a list of how-tos and to-dos, we want to experience and learn by doing. Godin (2012) notes that we don’t make baseball fans by making them learn stats and read books. Baseball fans are made by experiencing a game or playing on a team, then the desire to learn and research more can follow.
For a long time, I thought I just didn't have the ability to grasp what I was reading or what I was being told. I found myself sitting in class, taking notes, and answering questions when called upon, but then heading back to my dorm room and really diving into the content on my own to better internalize it all. I didn't understand the different learning styles and the fact that I just needed to be, literally, more active, in my learning. At some point in my college career, I learned about the idea of experiential learning (Kolb, 1974), a learning style that allows for going out and doing to better understand my world and those of my classmates and community members.
Some of these experiential learning events were to better our community, but they always seemed to broaden our perspectives, too. For example, a much-loved Sociology professor asked our class to go against what was considered a social norm and come back to report on the results. This was long before social media and everything being recorded for likes, clicks, and shock value. What an eye-opening and fun experience it was to hear the creative ways my classmates, “went against the grain.” We all gasped and giggled to hear the reactions we each received to our deviance, both during the experiment and after revealing the truth to those involved.
My family had always emphasized being a good neighbor, social awareness, and hard work. These were all concepts that greatly helped me during my four years at my private liberal arts college and beyond! I jumped into many clubs, sometimes taking a leadership role and other times happy just to be a part of the group. I looked at volunteer opportunities as ways to help, not quite realizing how much I'd learn while broadening my outlook on life. Spending time at food pantries, children's homes for foster kids, and assisted living communities for adults with exceptional needs proved to shape my outlook on the world; never happening had I chosen to stay in my dorm room, or simply watch a video or read a pamphlet. These are all hands-on learning opportunities that I cherish and for which I am grateful.
At that point, I chose to associate with like-minded people and am still good friends with my closest college buddies. As I entered the workforce, I found it was not as easy to encounter such optimism and gratitude in day-to-day activities and day-to-day colleagues. Today, I can identify this phenomenon as a person or organization with a fixed mindset. I was often frustrated when sharing an idea, or throwing out a creative option, only to be met with, “That won't work" or a smirk or eye roll. I had to learn that everything is a blessing or a lesson. In those cases, the lesson was to not be like those people. Today, when we are troubleshooting at work, or brainstorming at school, no idea is off the table. If someone truly thinks something is feasible, we ask them to explore what it would take to implement and then go from there. We don't deny any thought process when there is a genuinely plausible idea. When I joined my current organization, the motto was Always Learning and knew I had found my people!
I work in the world of educational software for young learners. Our software programs have been in use for more than 4 decades. We are research based and constantly improving. We learn of new shiny competitors entering our space constantly. The main differentiator is our partner success and the level of support we provide to our school districts at all levels. Some companies send welcome letters. Others may send a video or even hold a virtual meeting to deliver details about the basics of a program. Waterford’s Professional Learning team goes much deeper with our implementation, training and support plan which is why our school partners return to us year after year.
Just as schools expect more from Waterford, we expect more from our training and implementation of each program. Teachers get hands-on experience while in our training. We are beyond sit and get. Teachers experience the program as their students will see it every day. We review data, teach, and learn how it can be used for required student forms and goal setting and tracking. We model for teachers how to use our group presentation mode, and we role play taking data to form and inform intervention groups and targeted objectives. When done right and well, educational technology can be such an asset to a classroom and district. However, doing things right and well requires more than just point and click and dispensing of product knowledge.
Zull (2002) teaches us that learning from experience results in actual, physical changes in the brain. Today, my position allows me to travel to school districts around the country. Wherever I go, I try to, “do as the locals do.” I often ask where the locals go to eat or shop. I always want to know the history or traditions of the community to better serve the teachers, students, and families with which I get to work. For example, recently while with the Tulsa Public School district, I made it a point to go to the Greenwood district where the Tulsa race massacre occurred in 1921. My co-worker and I spent 2 hours at the Greenwood Rising: Black Wall Street History Center, learning all about the riots, fires, and racially motivated decimation of this area and people. While this happened over 100 years ago, the impact is still felt in the city, today. The impacts have a direct line to the school systems and help me to better analyze and prepare a plan of action centered around the Waterford Reading Academy software and implementation.
I have had the opportunity to visit Tribal schools in New Mexico. I've taken the opportunity to visit Amish stores and communities in Indiana. I've eaten at amazing neighborhood soul food restaurants in Louisiana. I've explored miles and miles of agricultural land worked by migrant families in California and Washington...and the list goes on. When possible, I try to take full advantage of where I am to learn and expand my life experiences.
This is where a variation of Dweck’s (2014) power of yet, comes into play. I understand there are many areas that I don't know about, yet! The amazing thing is I don't even know what specific areas I want to know about. It seems that with every experience, a new door opens, and a learning or research opportunity comes my way.
What an amazing time it is that we can pull out our phones and ask Google to fill in some blanks, as needed. We can pick up the phone and call someone across the country, or even across the world, without a huge concern for long-distance charges, anymore. We can email and get a relatively quick response compared to "snail mail" correspondence and trying to track down a stamp. Not to forget a text or quick online chat for information in a dash!
For this reason, I am still trying to grasp why this is not everyone's approach to life and learning. I think back to that Plato's Cave conversation and think about the many classmates that did not take advantage of the social and/or learning opportunities provided through our university. How many people today continue to choose to stay within their 4 walls and don't want to learn more, meet others, or explore beyond what's known or perceived low risk.
I would love everyone to see the joy in learning by doing and experiences, but I must respect the differences in my line of work. I must be able to meet families and teachers where they are. Some are very afraid of or opposed to technology…see my note about visiting the Amish community, above. Some are fearful because English may not be the primary language in their home. Some are fearful because they may not have had the best experience during their school years. In all scenarios, I must respect that not everyone is willing to jump into a new experience with gusto and optimism. In those cases, I continue to keep my positive outlook, knowing that everyone I meet comes with their own background and interesting, assortment of baggage in all sorts, shapes, and sizes.
I'm fortunate to be able to combine my fascination with sociology and my love for learning and education to hopefully better serve all the communities with which I encounter. My goal is to always make those I meet feel comfortable with learning something new, and hopefully leave excited about our next encounter.
I'm grateful for this opportunity to reflect upon my thoughts and approaches to learning, what makes me tick, and how I see learning in others. Again, I can read pages, write notes, and listen all day long, but until I do the things, I don't feel that I have fully grasped the lessons to be learned. Part of my learning journey is figuring out what learning approaches work for others, what makes them tick, and what I can do to help them find joy in their own learning journey.
Dweck, C. S. (2007). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Ballantine Books.
Kolb, D. A. (2014). Experiential learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. FT Press.
Zull, J. E. (2002). The art of changing the brain: Enriching the Practice of Teaching by Exploring the Biology of Learning. Taylor & Francis.
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