We ask kids to share constantly. From the time they are in Kindergarten we have come to expect it. But, there are so few models showing the same good sharing habits amongst adults. More often than not, we are encouraged not to share in the adult world. We are encouraged to take what is “rightfully ours” and try to gather as much power and resources unto ourselves as possible.
I’m not interested in being selfish or proving to anyone that I am the only person who could ever do my job. Rather, I am looking to share. Specifically I am looking to share with Christine DeLeon.
In working with her directly for a strategic planning day, I realized something: she shares well. And, she does so in a really interesting way. Many people share responsibilities. Others shares stakeholder conversations. Others still share experiences. But the majority of those kinds of sharing are like handshakes. Instead, her model of sharing looks more like a feedback loop.
When Christine gives provides you with an idea, she isn’t interested in that being the end of the conversation. Rather, she’s interested in receiving something even better in return and then offering something up again in a cascade of collaboration. She wants to trying new things and see what happens. The loop she is creating is one of inputs and outputs, never destroying energy but only creating it. She wants to use current experiences to build better ones. In that way, everything she becomes a cycle.
Our shared work is a cycle. Our learning is a cycle. Our process for engaging schools is a cycle. Our reflective practice is a cycle.
The feedback loop is why I want to share with Christine. Her ability to intuitively understand what an iterative cycle in conversation, in workload, or in creating the model for the future of education is makes me want to share all the more. It is the selflessness of a virtuous cycle that allows this to work, the trust that comes from knowing that whatever you put out there isn’t going to be “possessed” by someone else, but rather used to make learning better for kids.
