Flexibility In School
vs. stubbornness
Adjusting to change with a good attitude
To practice Flexibility I will:
- not get upset when plans change
- accepting the things I cannot change
- be open to new and different experiences
- learn from my mistakes
- anticipate and prepare for change
‘Adapting to Change’
– Bill Croskey
When my wife, Nancy, began a new workout class, the trainer started by giving each class member a Flexibility evaluation. She was told that she was very Flexible. Must come from being a teacher for more than 30 years! When thinking about the Character Quality, I like the term Adaptability as defined by Character First! – “adjusting plans or ideas without getting upset.” But I prefer the word “Flexibility” because it conveys the idea of being willing to change while being able to bend, but not break. That seems important to me when facing change.
Educators certainly have to be able to handle change. State-wide, high stakes testing, Common Core standards being adopted, challenges to accepted ways of negotiating teaching contracts, attacks on pension plans, rising insurance costs, lack of teaching job availability, as well as the Usual Gang of Educational Stressors, all make being an educator less secure and more frightening these days. That which has not killed you has made you bend almost in half.
I have been pondering what it is that makes change so difficult. Perhaps some of the challenge comes with our personal philosophies. Adapting to change has an odor of “giving in.” One might be fearful of not standing up for personal beliefs. “Stand up!” we tell ourselves; we must Stand and Deliver! Have standards. If we don’t stand for something, we will stand for anything. We have to hold out for our standards. Enough? I can’t stand it!