Friday again already, and it's already nearly the end of March!
We are coming to the end of week 2 of online learning and yet again everyone has been doing a great job.
Those of you who know me well know that I am most definitely a lifelong learner and look for opportunities to develop wherever I can. I often think of doing more formal academic study, and maybe one day I will, however for now I have just begun my NPQH. It isn't something I thought I would do, but I know several people who have done it and others who started theirs in September and speak highly of it, so I thought I would have a go!
Anyway, the reason I mention this is because it was our first 'Peer Learning Group' session yesterday. Module One is all about implementation, so the majority of our discussions revolved around making changes and focussing not only on the 'WHY', the 'HOW', but also the obstacles which may be in the way of implementing them effectively and sustainably.
There were many moments during the webinar that resonated with me not just professionally but personally. It occurred to me, yet again, that having the most amazing people around you means that you can get through just about anything.
So, in no particular order...
We agreed that 'keeping a sense of humour' and 'carrying on laughing' was a pre-requisite of our course. Not only is this something I find a pre-requisite to my own leadership, I actually find it one for life. I spent far too much of my childhood and adolescence stressing and worrying about things out of my control and forgetting to laugh that I often failed to have fun, and probably failed to be fun to be around. I am eminently grateful to my childhood friends for keeping me sane and sticking by me in my most stressy moments. I knew it was bad when, once, my mother told me to go to Girls' Brigade one week even though I hadn't been to school... in my house, if you were too sick to go to school, you definitely didn't get to go out to see friends! That was possibly a defining moment. Over the (increasingly many) years since then, I have made a huge effort to 'chill out' and am finally managing, more or less successfully, to only concern myself with the controllables and leave the rest to be. Some days I'm even successful!
The other major 'moment' was when we talked about obstacles in our path. Amongst them were 'forgetting to celebrate success' and 'change fatigue'. both of which I not only experience in my professional life, but also in my personal life.
There is a scenario attributed to Einstein where he makes a simple mistake in a class and is ridiculed for it. Whether or not the scenario is accurate, the scene definitely was in a classroom somewhere. Basically, he got 9/10 questions correct, but rather than celebrating and congratulating the 9 successes, only the one failure was noted. I wonder how many times we have either witnessed this in our own classrooms (either as student or as teacher) or indeed in our own lives. How often do we take the time to care for ourselves and remind ourselves of all the 'right' decisions we have made rather than just focussing on the 'wrong' ones? I think I have a good idea... I have said it before and I will say it again. Be kind to yourself.
Out of all of these, 'change fatigue' brought a wry smile to my face. I think we are ALL feeling 'change fatigued' in so many aspects of our lives at the moment. I do find some irony in the fact that, despite feeling change fatigue, I am not only moving jobs but moving countries for next academic year. Yes. The only way I can reconcile this in my mind is the fact that this is through choice, therefore the control is mine and so not actually fatiguing, but actively invigorating. Change is good, change is healthy, just under the right circumstances.
If nothing else, take a moment to remember to smile and have a little chuckle to yourself. Whatever you are doing or experiencing, trust me it will make a difference.
Music tonight is from the 'Lumineers mix' on YouTube. It's currently 'Safe and Sound' from Capital Cities. Some interesting tracks in the mix. Would recommend if you're a Lumineers/Mumford and Sons fan, or just to try something a bit different.
Happy Last Friday in March everyone. Next week is April Fool's...
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