Can we say "No" to our kids?
I really enjoyed our summer reading of the book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. I shared many of the nuggets that I would come across with my wife, who's in Marketing, and my other friends. One of my best friends has really struggled with the idea of saying no to his multiple jobs. This caused him to have to take a step back recently and re-evaluate his priorities with his work as a Clinical Psychologist. One of the questions that I thought about while reading the book was, "How do educational leaders say 'no' when it comes to their students?"
I know many people would look at this in the literal context, but I chose a different lens. Of course, there are times when students and even teachers will ask for things such as new playground equipment, or more recess time. In those cases, it would be easy for the educational leader to say 'no' if those things are not a necessity. But I wondered about the academic portion. How do we say no to resources that could help students?
During one of my interviews this summer, I was given the following advice, "As a leader, you look at everything. You can’t do everything, you won’t have the money, nor the time, nor the resources. But what you will do is have a focus and say, ‘I know what’s best for my kids. I know what’s best for my students, so I know that this is gonna work.’ You have to kinda search and do your research on everything." This statement is very powerful and seems to go against the idea of Essentialism.
So I pose the question, "Can we say 'no' to our kids?" It seems to me that one of the downsides to our educational system is the "One size fits all" mentality that many school districts and states tend to operate under. It is this idea that says we can cut the number of resources that we give to students and expect those resources to work for ALL kids. Equity means meeting all of our students where they are. So as I reflect, I am torn between the wonderful idea of Essentialism and going above and beyond for our students. I know that there is a balance. I also know that as I make the transition from the classroom to leadership, this will be one of my biggest challenges.
I know many people would look at this in the literal context, but I chose a different lens. Of course, there are times when students and even teachers will ask for things such as new playground equipment, or more recess time. In those cases, it would be easy for the educational leader to say 'no' if those things are not a necessity. But I wondered about the academic portion. How do we say no to resources that could help students?
During one of my interviews this summer, I was given the following advice, "As a leader, you look at everything. You can’t do everything, you won’t have the money, nor the time, nor the resources. But what you will do is have a focus and say, ‘I know what’s best for my kids. I know what’s best for my students, so I know that this is gonna work.’ You have to kinda search and do your research on everything." This statement is very powerful and seems to go against the idea of Essentialism.
So I pose the question, "Can we say 'no' to our kids?" It seems to me that one of the downsides to our educational system is the "One size fits all" mentality that many school districts and states tend to operate under. It is this idea that says we can cut the number of resources that we give to students and expect those resources to work for ALL kids. Equity means meeting all of our students where they are. So as I reflect, I am torn between the wonderful idea of Essentialism and going above and beyond for our students. I know that there is a balance. I also know that as I make the transition from the classroom to leadership, this will be one of my biggest challenges.
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