Effective 21st-Century Educator

One of the articles in the email I received from NAESP (National Assn. for Elementary School Principals) this morning was "Five Characteristics of an effective 21st-century educator." The premise of this article was that not only do we need to prepare student to compete in a global economy but we need educators who can be effective in this century.

The Five Characteristics noted:

1. Anticipate the future: Prepare students for the world in which they will live, not the current world.
2. Is a lifelong learner: Embraces change and is willing to learn from colleagues and students
3. Fosters peer relationships: In this technology-driven era, it is more critical than ever than educators foster relationships with and between students so students can be effective in the workplace and fulfilled in their lives.
4. Can teach and assess all levels of learners: It is important that educators have the same 21st-century skills that the students are expected to have.
5. Is able to discern effective vs. non-effective technology: Technologies can help students learn more and faster but technologies also hold the potential for non-productive use if not used properly.

Thirst For Knowledge

The desire of knowledge, like the thirst of riches, increases ever with the acquisition of it. -Laurence Sterne, novelist and clergyman (1713-1768)

This is what we want to instill in our Esperanza scholars--a thirst for knowledge. This is what will turn them into lifelong learners. All it takes is one book that catches a child's interest to get him hooked on reading. It only takes one topic to pique a child's interest to cause her to want to continue learning about that topic that leads to wanting to learn about other topics. Therefore, we need to continually expose our Esperanza scholars to all kinds of books and all kinds of learning experiences. We can only do this if we are continually reading and learning ourselves.

Branding Oneself

According to Jack Griffin, author of How to Say It: Be Indispensable at Work it is important to treat your boss like a customer. The boss holds the purse strings and expects to get excellent work and high productivity (results) from those who receive a paycheck from the organization.

Therefore, each Esperanza staff member will want to brand himself or herself as a workhorse, a problem solver, a producer, an innovator, an expert in some area, a lifelong learner, and/or anything else that will make him or her valuable to the organization.

Branding oneself means an investment in oneself in order to have assets (skills, services, experiences) that are unique and command respect and that make a person irreplaceable. A branded person is one's own unique product that no one can take away. In other words, even if one works for an organization, including Esperanza, it is important to be an entrepreneur.

A Culture of Reading

Dr. William Purkey says that he only needs a “whiff” to know if a school or classroom is inviting. I want that to be true of Esperanza as well as the fact that it will be obvious from a whiff that everyone at Esperanza loves books and learning.

To create this kind of environment is not sufficient for students to only learn how to read. Studies show that half of America is aliterate which means the quality or state of being able to read but uninterested in doing so. One third of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives and 42% of college graduates never read another book after college. (Source: Jerold Jenkins, www.JenkinsGroupInc.com)

We want our Esperanza students to love books and be lifelong learners. The educators at Esperanza must set the example. Educators who are avid readers their enthusiasm flows from their personal lives into the classroom. Yet, research is indicating that teachers don’t read any more often than other adults in the general population. One study of 224 teachers pursuing graduate degrees found that only half had read one or two professional books in the previous year, and an additional 20% said they had read nothing in the last six months or one year. (Source: www.trelease-on-reading.com)

I feel that we should start now with those who hope to work at Esperanza to become avid readers by doing the following:

The principal/instructional leader needs to talk about and share books and professional journals for research shows that teachers read more who have principals who do this.
On the Generación Floreciente website (www.generacionfloreciente.org) there is a professional Book of the Month.

Invite teachers to join me on Goodreads (www.goodreads.com) I have been introduced so many great books by friends on Goodreads. It’s similar to what I remember as a young woman doing-- a friend and I found a list of suggested books and we spent one summer challenging each other to read them.

Encourage teachers to participate in a book discussion group—maybe meeting from 7:00-8:30 one day a week (or month).

The love of reading is something that is caught, not taught. Therefore, we need to first develop this love ourselves.