My response was just as heartfelt, explaining that I wasn't calling for anyone and everyone to fall on their swords: “No individual educator should do more than is reasonable and responsible, and certainly where we are in our careers factors into that professional judgment call. Unfortunately we are still at a place where the most conscientious among us respond to this call to action worrying if they are doing enough, while those who I would hope to prompt to action aren't even listening to the conversation. Wouldn't it be more comfortable if all of us were pushing the envelope just enough to make a difference, instead of some of us serving the role of change agents while others look the other way?”
I am not chiding my peers to “Get all mavericky” about education. Mavericks and martyrs are seldom the longterm solutions for change. Sure there are famous figures in history who bucked the system, even dying for the right to do so. But there are so many others whose names and deeds have been forgotten, who may or may not have made a difference. The question we are left asking ourselves is, “To what end? When is it worth it to sacrifice the quality of my life for the greater good?”
The truth is, at any point that I have to “think” about getting all mavericky, something isn’t right. I must already possess a level of certainty – of conviction – that I am in the position and in the moment where I can make a difference. Because once I assert myself, I know I am going to feel the squeeze of a push back from all directions. I have to know and believe that the juice is worth the squeeze.
In my final stint in public school administration, a colleague who knows me a good ten years, laughed over lunch, saying, “You are such a maverick!” We smiled and I sat back thinking, “That’s not a compliment.” It wasn’t that we were discussing some action I had taken or was about to take; it was simply her observation that my outlook on life is to question and learn. Those who know my 25 years in public education can tell you it wasn’t that I was out in front fighting the system. I was working within the system advocating for innovation and improvements. In all candor, the only way anyone could say I was getting all mavericky in my classroom or in my office or leading my department is that while I stood tall and certain about my work, others were not standing shoulder-to-shoulder with me. It’s much safer to step into the background to criticize or admire or simply wait to see what happens next. Don’t you think? At least…it seems safe...until one realizes their quality of life is suffering from standing in the background. This is where education finds itself today.
Kurt Vonnegut termed artists as the canaries in society’s coal mine, sensitive enough to detect toxic gas before it rose to such levels that it was dangerous to humans. When the canary stops singing and drops off its perch, it’s time to head for open air so that human life is protected. This has been the traditional role of change agents throughout the ebb and flow of human history. Unfortunately, as the waters of history settle back down into their seabed, the status quo resumes. Everyone prefers calm waters...and no one rocking a boat is going to disturb the entire tide.
What if instead of forcing our peers to stand like mavericks because we've stepped back...what if everyone just held their place in line? What if we all stood shoulder-to-shoulder, each of us tall and certain of our work, no one stepping into the background, our small efforts making movements in the water that ripple out and join with the efforts others are making, eventually making waves that will help to turn the tide? Would you be willing to do that? Could you simply stand still and not give in to the temptation to step back and make someone else your maverick? Especially if it will help you improve the quality of your life in the process?
This is the call to action I require of myself and I extend to colleagues everywhere. Today each of us will each encounter someone quietly creating a ripple. Instead of watching from a distance, I will create a second ripple. Not an attention-getting splash-about. Not a canary dive or a belly flop. Just a ripple of my own. If each of us does this in education daily…no mavericks…no martyrs…no canaries…our actions will eventually cause a tidal transformation. That's what I'm talking about.
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