What’s next?
I am finally putting together my thoughts few weeks after the Ulvade tragedy. It is hard to comprehend that we are living in a world where children in the United States are not safe at school. Each headline and news story related to school violence makes this more and more terrifying.
At the same time, I am reflecting on the ending of a school year that proved to be the most challenging in my career. I quickly realized this fall that it is a new territory, post-pandemic. So many of our systems want us to get back to “business” as usual, but what is usual now in education? Let’s face it, none of us are the same.
I have spent the last few months, talking to our young teachers and previous students. I am hearing echoes of why they are abandoning a field of education. It is not just because of the pay, teachers typically do not enter the field for the dollars and cents. One of the most common themes in their mass exodus is the divide, between: parents/teachers, students/teachers, leadership/teachers. They feel disenfranchised and not supported with the hardest work of just building relationships and connecting.
How do we connect again after being so far apart? It has to be more than compliance and training. We need a “moment” where our hands and hearts connect. If this is not the time, when is?