Why have you chosen to be where you are today?
For the past few years my school district has held an event that focuses on an author in the education field. We invite surrounding school districts and local businesses. This year we have asked John Perricone, the author of Zen and the Art of Public School Teaching. I am excited for my staff and others to see Mr. Perricone speak. I have had the pleasure of seeing him twice since moving to South Dakota and he has the gift of pulling an audience into his message and they hang on his every word. I wanted to share some of my insights I chose to focus on from his book. For those of you in education, Zen and the Art of Public School Teaching is a must have for your professional library.
Do you know yourself and why you chose the field you are in? Many people think they are aware of what makes them tick, but many fail to really dig deep to identify key characteristics that define themselves. I find this to be a critical conversation we must have with ourselves, especially in today’s world. Many educators are struggling and even asking themselves why they stay in their jobs or whether it would be a good idea to get out of education all together. Mr. Perricone’s book can offer some direction to overcoming our challenges. Our teachers are meeting challenges most of us can’t even fathom. Many of our educators could benefit from a chance to redirect their current situation and find their passion for teaching again.
We all come with our own philosophy in whatever career we choose. For myself, I always found my passion in helping students who struggled in school as well as in life. As a school administrator, I still feel the same way. I still find passion helping students and now teachers too. I now wish to extend that philosophy into coaching and developing people who seek to improve their lives. You see, our philosophies define us. We continue to evolve and change our direction, but our philosophy stays the same. We are simply sharpening our skills and doing more within our individual philosophy.
Staying true to our individual philosophy is one thing, but how do we keep ourselves motivated? Mr. Perricone discusses his experience in the martial arts and how it relates to his teaching practices. We must ask ourselves how we plan to keep ourselves motivated and continue to show we are still passionate about our career and life. This must be an intentional act. We have discussed finding our joy each day in previous posts. We need to find avenues in our day that allow us to be refreshed when we are in stressful situations. Absorbing positive messages and conversations will benefit us greatly. We are on a path because we made a decision we were passionate about and it is up to us to find that passion each day.
When was the last time you identified the roles that are important to you?
How does your career fit into your identified roles?
Are you able to articulate why you chose the path you’re on?
How are you keeping true to your philosophy for career and life?
I love being in education and working with outstanding people who care so much. There is so much on the plates of our educators, and it is very frustrating to hear people who are critical of the education field. My hope this week, is to shed some light on this book that has a great message. Thanks for checking in and I hope you take a moment to do a little evaluation on yourself. Please leave your comments below and share your thoughts.
Steven C. Bucks- Leading Conversations
Reference: Perricone, J. (2005). Zen and the Art of Public School Teaching. PublishAmerica.
