Margaret Wheatley reminds us that “without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.” Even our best intentions can miss the mark if we don’t pause to reflect.
In an effort to evolve in education, there are many things we are doing differently (and for good reason). But, if we just keep adding more without time to process what fits together, what can be taken out, what is repetitive, what is missing, and what “it” means, we will burn out. We will fail to have the impact that we want to have on our learners.
Unfortunately, this is common human behavior. As the pressure increases, we push harder and faster when we should slow down. We all need time to process and make sense of the new initiatives and mandates being put in place, so we can figure out how to meaningfully implement them in our work.
Don’t just take my word for it though. As highlighted in the article Reflecting on Work Improves Job Performance, researchers did a series of studies, all showing that reflection boosts performance: “Now more than ever, we seem to be living lives where we’re busy and overworked, and our research shows that if we’d take some time out for reflection, we might be better off.”
This week’s Bright Spot highlights how the team at Learner-Centered Collaborative put this research into practice.
With Gratitude,
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