Parallel Journeys: Finding Our Voice
My students: Recently in our school my students have been learning to identify opportunities to speak up and share out their thoughts and opinions. They are finding where and when this is appropriate in order to be most effective. Last week in circle, the school was being informed about the expectations of finals and how the results will impact their future. The information turned into an elongated announcement, during which IH mumbled, rather loudly, "Don't just lecture us. Give us the chance to do it and then come back to it..."
I turned to IH and gave him my look of 'this is not the right time for that kind of comment!' to which he responded, "But Ms. Wang, you always tell us to speak up. I'm speaking up..."
Made me stop & think for a bit. IH and I had a longer conversation later on in the day, and I first acknowledged that his voice and thoughts do matter. And that it takes courage to make the choice to speak up. We then talked about what is the right medium to speak up. And we talked about whether its anytime, anywhere or whether its about finding places and opportunities. But then the conversation turned into how does the context predetermine who has power (i.e. if it is only in a certain context, say when he is asked for his thoughts, doesn't that still mean his voice isnt as valued?). We had no conclusion but he and I agreed it was ok not to have a conclusion just yet.
This was a conversation with a 13 year old young man.
it was inspiring to me.
THE PARALLEL.
My voice: ironically, this conversation happened in the midst of a lot of things stirring up in my school and with my colleagues. a few colleagues had "disappeared," i.e. quit or were terminated, we were unsure what was going on with another staff member, the culture of distrust and fear was creeping back in, and teacher voice seemed to be devalued.
A colleague of mine sought out my thoughts about the school morale and culture. I made the choice to be honest and speak up honestly. Then, he invited me along with 24 other colleagues he had spoken with to engage in a roundtable discussion with our administrative team. The weekend leading up to this meeting, i continued to vacillate between not wanting to burn bridges (because i felt like attending this meeting could cause a rift in the relationships i had established with my admin team) and then wanting to speak up for my students and the school. making my voice heard.
at dinner with a social worker friend of mine, i shared this dilemma. and she simplified it. "what would you want your students to do?"
and that was that. i attended the meeting. and i am very glad i did. this has evolved into a weekly meeting where we have begun honest conversations about how the staff feel, issues and concerns that have been raised, and most importantly, finding the root of a lot of the issues we are facing as a school, which we have found to be an issue of distrust of our admin.
what i am learning? though it is easy to find our voice, our passions and thoughts, it is harder to speak our voice and make our voice known.
there are many obstacles - shame, fear, vulnerability.
as i continue to impart my voice, i hope to cultivate opportunities for my students to do the same.
I turned to IH and gave him my look of 'this is not the right time for that kind of comment!' to which he responded, "But Ms. Wang, you always tell us to speak up. I'm speaking up..."
Made me stop & think for a bit. IH and I had a longer conversation later on in the day, and I first acknowledged that his voice and thoughts do matter. And that it takes courage to make the choice to speak up. We then talked about what is the right medium to speak up. And we talked about whether its anytime, anywhere or whether its about finding places and opportunities. But then the conversation turned into how does the context predetermine who has power (i.e. if it is only in a certain context, say when he is asked for his thoughts, doesn't that still mean his voice isnt as valued?). We had no conclusion but he and I agreed it was ok not to have a conclusion just yet.
This was a conversation with a 13 year old young man.
it was inspiring to me.
THE PARALLEL.
My voice: ironically, this conversation happened in the midst of a lot of things stirring up in my school and with my colleagues. a few colleagues had "disappeared," i.e. quit or were terminated, we were unsure what was going on with another staff member, the culture of distrust and fear was creeping back in, and teacher voice seemed to be devalued.
A colleague of mine sought out my thoughts about the school morale and culture. I made the choice to be honest and speak up honestly. Then, he invited me along with 24 other colleagues he had spoken with to engage in a roundtable discussion with our administrative team. The weekend leading up to this meeting, i continued to vacillate between not wanting to burn bridges (because i felt like attending this meeting could cause a rift in the relationships i had established with my admin team) and then wanting to speak up for my students and the school. making my voice heard.
at dinner with a social worker friend of mine, i shared this dilemma. and she simplified it. "what would you want your students to do?"
and that was that. i attended the meeting. and i am very glad i did. this has evolved into a weekly meeting where we have begun honest conversations about how the staff feel, issues and concerns that have been raised, and most importantly, finding the root of a lot of the issues we are facing as a school, which we have found to be an issue of distrust of our admin.
what i am learning? though it is easy to find our voice, our passions and thoughts, it is harder to speak our voice and make our voice known.
there are many obstacles - shame, fear, vulnerability.
as i continue to impart my voice, i hope to cultivate opportunities for my students to do the same.
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