ARE YOU TEACHABLE?

While this question seems vague, it is definitely worth considering. 

How do we view ourselves? How do we view others? 

Do we believe we know all there is to know? Do we believe we have reached the plateau of learning?

Consider for a moment, parenting. There are no books to truly prepare a new parent for their "forever" role and children definitely do not come with a "how-to" manual. Some parents are great at it and some parents struggle, but they do their best with the tools they have and they often ask for assistance. Often leaning on their mothers and their mother's mother or their father and their father's father for sound advice. These are the parents who truly understand that they do not everything and that it is okay to ask for help; to be teachable.

The same holds true for educators. When studying theorists and completing countless papers, research, projects, and internship hours, nothing truly prepares the new teacher for what they will experience once they actually are responsible for their own classroom. Principals, Vice-Principals, Counselors, etc.; no one is truly prepared for what they believe they have been prepared for.

The most important thing we would do well to remember is this: Learning is Lifelong. Even when we think we've mastered the art of anything, there is always someone who has mastered it just a bit better than we have. When we think we're the expert in our field, there is the emergence of a new expert with more recent research and experiences. This does not diminish our knowledge or our role, it simply means there is more to learn. We must ask ourselves: am I willing and open to learning new concepts, new strategies, and new methods? Or am I stuck in my old ways of thinking, unwilling to collaborate and learn from others? Do I always have to be right?

Just because "it's always been done this way" doesn't mean that way is the best way. I remember my grandfather saying often, "you can't teach an old dog new tricks!" I never what that truly meant until I    encountered individuals in the education sector who refused to embrace new research practices.

We live in a time of change. We are wanting to see old habits broken, old ways of thinking changed, old practices no longer practiced, and we want more for our future leaders- our children. In order to ensure our children have a better tomorrow, we have to be invested in today. It's not always about being right, it's about being teachable. 

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