I have never been a part of a truly visionary team. In every team I have been on, I have held the role of the designated question asker. I have always assumed that I would need to create whatever revolutionary environment I needed for my own learning. I now know that this assumption was dead wrong.
You see, it is not every day that you hear a truly transformational idea. Is not every day that you recognize true inspiration in others. And, it is not every day where the work that you do feels like it has the power to shift what is possible. It only happens when you advocate for the right things. It only happens when you are asking the right questions. It only happens when you’re addressing a real and unique need as a team.
The team I now find myself on contains two pretty amazing people, Christina Jean and Mia Peterson. I realize through them that I’m where I want to be. They do not wait around for approval. They make stuff happen. And for that and that alone, I am in their service.
There’s no skepticism. There is no ulterior motives. There is only genuine interest in seeing students own their learning. They are never looking to get out of work, instead they are constantly looking for good work to fill their days with.
The good work they want to do is in the service of students. It is in the service of best practice. Busyness has not been an excuse, but rather an emblem of what it is that they are fighting against. They are working toward leaving systems behind that do not do right by learners. They are looking for ways to lighten the load for all that they encounter.
More than anything, though, I feel like what we launch, we launch together. What we fail at, we fail at together. What we communicate, we communicate together. And it is not wishful thinking or overly reflective practice to say that these two individuals are ones that I can learn with. They are the ones I want to follow and the ones I want to lead.
It is only in this dual role that I feel like we move forward. It is our shared vision we are executing now, one that is being created every day by our actions and words and creative acts.
