Besides the fresh air (for both the mind and lungs) and authentic learning (for all parties involved) that takes place during EOTC excursions, there is the added bonus of an escape from the shirt and tie. So today I found myself in my civy’s cleaning out the school van after a geography field trip, with an assortment of cleaning paraphernalia strewn about, when a slick looking car pulled up next to me. The gentleman that stepped out was equally slick - a crisp shirt glowing beneath a striking dark suit - to the point where I failed to recognise him as our school janitor. Turns out he has a second job, which I discovered as we swapped cleaning techniques in a hearty conversation I frankly never predicted I would have.
One’s role is not defined by looking backward but by looking forward. We often look to structures that have existed previously in order to define the role we are in and the responsibilities that come with it - whether those structures be experiences, schemas, or hierarchies - but such a mentality will forever limit our ability to fulfill a role effectively. What we ought to do is look forward toward the outcome of that role - and what we want it to achieve - in order to justify it’s existence. I believe this concept of ako to be relevant to all of us, but in particular to educators and even more so to educational leaders. When one takes on board the responsibilities of a leadership position through an appreciation for one’s own experience and authority, then learning can suffer; creativity and curiosity can be stifled and, perhaps most dangerously, without conscious recognition. When however, such a role is embarked upon with the end result in mind, using experience merely as means of reaching up higher and not used as the legs of the stool itself upon which the leader stands, then one is open to learning in all of it’s forms and guises. Indeed a powerful lesson from Dacher Keltner of UC Berkley is that the perception of power is negatively correlated to empathy, yet do we not want those in power to be the most empathetic? Liz Wiseman would indeed tell us that preconceived knowledge can in fact get in the way of achieving a given task, and given that 85% of your knowledge falls under risk of being irrelevant in just 5 years, it is no wonder we see the concept of reverse mentoring taking off in the business space.
The mutual respect that the janitor and I had for each other meant that I had never before learned more about effective cleaning technique; it was not a juxtaposition or comical sight, just an everyday example of the roles of the learning environment being fluid to match the needs of the learners within it. When we are outcome focused and learning is the outcome, then simply utilise the best person for the job whether that be a student, expert, or even dare I say, the teacher.