Better Together

Our path to professional growth as educators has been changed forever and it’s the responsibility of each of us to navigate our individual paths. Truth be told it’s never been easier or economically affordable to “get better”. Without question the school districts that employ us bear a significant responsibility to train and invest in our professional growth but their are significant challenges that limit their ability to meet the needs of their very diverse staffs. These challenges include creating professional development days that will satisfy the demands of state requirements as well as creating sessions that will help the district and the individual educator grow. The last piece is perhaps the most challenging. With multiple content areas how do you create professional development that targets the individual educator. This is where we need to develop a sense of autonomy, use professional days and seek opportunities that will contribute to our own professional growth.

Growing as an individual requires us to exit the doors of our school district and pursue professional development opportunities that are unique to our own professional growth. This is where the concept of “ better together” comes in, but what exactly does that mean? 

Does it mean, if two or more people work together they can solve a problem? perhaps.

Does it mean that if two or more people work together they can accomplish something more efficiently? Sure

Does it mean that if two or more people work together their chance of success increases. Okay 

While all of the above statements are potentially true, the concept of “better together” is much more transformative and much more far reaching. Better together means that the individual educator learns something new and then shares what they learn with educators and they share with their educators, and it keeps networking forward without limitations. The networking usually begins online as a result of Twitter usage and the creation of Professional Learning Networks then eventually moves to face encounters at professional conferences and edcamps. The concept is both simple and inspiring as hierarchies are flattened and people of various educational status are brought together with multiple purposes, improve yourself, improve others and most importantly take what you learn to improve your students.

While “ better together” is simple philosophically it requires quite an investment. It requires a relational investment. It requires that we spend time on line and in person and willing network with other passengers educators. It requires that we listen to the expertise of others and it requires that we are willing to share our own expertise. It requires that we attend professional conferences and that we present at them. Yes, better together is always a two way street.