On Positivity and Professionalism

Note:  This post is the result of a lot of reflection.  The words here are not directed at anyone.  If they were, they would be directed at me.  In fact this post is more for me to improve myself than anything or anyone else.

Something has bothered me lately.  It's been there - nagging my conscience, whispering in my ear - this whole summer, really.  I couldn't figure out what it was until a couple of weeks ago when I attended a session at Podstock  (more on that here) about energy leadership.  In this session, Tammy Fellers (@tjfellers) and Tamara Konrade (@tamarakcoach) talked about seven levels of energy and where we might fall.  Level seven is where the perpetually positive person lands.  Their analogy was perfect:  this is the person who would look at a flat tire on a busy highway as a chance to learn a new school.  Let's face it, the level seven people are those we (the normal ones) want to throat-punch first thing in the morning.  Just kidding, sevens...not that you were offended.  Level one people are the complete opposite.  They find reasons to complain and they always feel like someone is out to get them.  Tammy and Tamara encouraged us to "strive for five".  Level five people are those who are committed to the cause, so to speak.

 I'm not an expert on this by any means, but that is the brass tacks of energy leadership.  What you need to know is this:  I fall down to level one or two way more than I ever rise to five, six, or seven.  That is the realization - the one thing bothering me for a few months now.  Those who aren't close friends may never realize this about me, I can be pretty stinking positive outwardly.  But the inside me is not always so optimistic.  The inside me is full of fear, self-loathing, and doubt.  So, I am writing this post to motivate myself with the hope of motivating a few others along the way.

photo credit:  Pixabay

 I suppose I am a bit of a hypocrite here, or maybe I'm just a result of my society.  It's kind of hard to tell.  You see, I can't stand all the negativity out there.  Perhaps I am just noticing it more, but negativity seems to be growing like a weed - especially in education.  It bothers me when I see educators posting such cynical statements on social media.  Every day I see statuses and tweets about the horrors of common core, how much we hate standardized testing, teachers being paid too little, and so on.

I know, I'm being negative about negativity.  However, to me such outward shows of anti-this or that do not help our public relations as educators.  Which brings me to my next realization:  professionalism requires us to be positive.  I'm not saying common core is perfect, standardized tests are the best days of my year, or I feel like we are overpaid.  However, publicly complaining about such things is just bad PR.  I have friends in many professions, and rarely do I see them complain about their careers on social media.  Do they have nothing about which they can complain?  Doubtful.  Rather, they are practicing professionalism.  I believe, as I'm sure you believe, teaching is not just a job - it is a profession.  We often complain (ahem...) about how little respect we get or how we are not treated as professionals.  How can we expect to be treated as professionals when we do not act as such?  Of course we need to vent from time to time, but social media is not the place to do so.

The other place we should practice anger abstinence is in our professional interactions.  My close friends who are also teachers and I will occasionally vent to each other privately - we all do that.  However, a staff meeting is not the place for negativity.  It kills any momentum a school has when someone shoots down or ridicules ideas.  I'm sure I've been guilty of this once or twice in the past, but I have learned from experience to be more open-minded.  Even if I'm not sure of a new program or directive, I must be willing to give it a shot.  Openly hating an idea which someone has proposed for the common good might just be the best way to ruin a learning community.  This is especially true when it is a requirement from administration.  There's no point in openly complaining about something we can't change.  As long as the directive does not hurt students, then what is the point of refusing to buy-in?

Perhaps even more important is to remain positive with parents, students, and the public.  Just as with social media, our interactions with these groups represent our profession as a whole.  Even when we are unsure of a new directive, it is important we present it with a positive spin.  Let's use, oh...I don't know...standardized testing as an example.  (Cue the scary music and screaming.)  If we are negative about state tests, how can we expect our students to do well?  Think about it:  what if I give my kids a test and say, "I can't believe they are making us take this.  I'm sorry to do this to you, but let's just get it over with."  How would those kids perform?  Instead of viewing testing as this horrible, scary ordeal, what happens when we look at it as a way to improve?  Even better, what happens when we communicated this to parents and students?

Like I said, most of us are not going to be positive all the time, but it should be our goal as professionals to remain publicly optimistic.  The only way I see to do this is to think out of the box and practice what we preach.  Educators are creative, intelligent people.  We need to find ways to authentically twist the negative aspects of our profession into positives.  Then, once we have found that optimistic spin, we need to actually believe it and put it into practice.  Of course, this change can only begin one person at a time - so, I am pledging to be more positive this year.  Will you join me?