January 25th, 2019
This past week I had the pleasure working with a former colleague. She is an educator I have known and respected for many years. We got to talking about the cultural changes we have noticed in schools in recent years compared to when we both first started in the profession.
When I first started my teaching career over 20 years ago, the technology was limited to an overhead projector, VCR and TV if you were lucky to have one in your room, a desk top computer, or maybe a lap top, again if you were lucky. You had to walk to the photocopier to copy your stuff, and while you waited in line, you chatted with your colleagues. Teachers spent time before school and after connecting in the staff room or in their classes. More often than not, many teachers went in on weekends to work which often provided more opportunities for relationship building. People often did things outside of work together, their children played together, staff socials were frequent. People were connected. The culture was one of a family.
In his book, Playing With Fire, Theo Fleury talks about when he came out of retirement and returned to play professional hockey. He talked about the culture change. How different things were from when he first entered the NHL. The change wasn’t just in aesthetics: bigger dressing rooms, more amenities, waiters to serve the players, state of the art training equipment. He talked about the social changes too, the “all business” mindset, how players today are easily offended and “too sensitive”. He talks about the fact that players today “don’t have to think.” He tells a story of sitting with Jerome Iginla in the dressing room talking about the old days and how much fun it was then , how they “would enjoy each other’s company, discuss more interesting topics”, they (players) would socialize outside of hockey and build lasting relationships built on friendship and trust.
This reminded me of how it was when I first started teaching.
In his book, Rethink Work: Finding and Keeping the Right Talent, Eric Termuende talks a lot about connectivity and culture. In a recent talk he gave in our District, he discussed how we are more connected than ever (referring to our digital connections), yet “we are connecting less and less.” Eric firmly believes that despite having more friends online than ever before, “in many cases we are living in a time that is also more lonely.” He believes we need to “rethink” work. He believes “if we could connect in a meaningful way and interact with people without any distractions, significant progress and benefit could occur on various fronts within an organization, and morale and inclusion would increase dramatically.”
This got me thinking about the cultural change I am noticing in schools.
In his post retirement return to hockey, it would appear Theo Fleury felt disconnected from the game he knew and those who were now playing it. Eric Termuende is noticing the disconnection happening in today’s working world. What is interesting here is that he is only 28, part of the first generation to only know a digitally connected world, yet he is questioning its effects rather critically.
As an educational leader, I worry that we are becoming disconnected from each other in our schools and within the profession. I worry what effect this will have on our learners.
Schools have the powerful ability to create a sense of family for everyone in them. Educational leaders have the responsibility to create a culture of connection. I have the ability to make a difference, to keep the sense of family within the schools I lead from being dismantled. It is not only a privilege of the job but also a responsibility of my role as leader. I need to continue to make this the focus of my work. It can’t afford not to be.