We had our "back to school" staff meeting this week. It was great to see my co workers and hear about their summer adventures. As the day progressed I found myself reflecting on my professional goals for this school year. I was thinking about my growth as an educator and the possible obstacles that could get in the way.
One of the things that came to mind was how important self awareness is - knowing your own personality, who you are, and what you are about. It sounds easy, but I don't think it is for everyone. For example, as I reflect on my perceived strengths and weaknesses, it isn't always easy to acknowledge my weaknesses/next steps because the areas I lack in are becoming ever more important in an educators toolbox.
Nevertheless, I thought about and verbalized my weaknesses to a few of my colleagues and that got me started on considering next steps to work on in order to improve myself. By having an awareness of the things that I need to work on, I moved into action (a small one) and talked to one of my teaching partners about it. This provided them with a little bit of an understanding of my perspective and why I do (and don't do) certain things. Fortunately, this led to a great discussion about how we can collaborate in a way that honours who I am and who they are.
In this case, things seem to be turning out to be positive. I am sure it won't always be that way. We all have to start somewhere and in my case I think I'm off to a good start.
With respect to the Catholic Leadership Framework, self awareness would fall under the "Personal Leadership Resources" pillar. Specifically, my attention is drawn to the "Psychological Resources" subsection. The subsection mentions optimism, self-efficacy, resilience, and proactivity. I believe that being self aware is another important resource. Knowing about yourself will provide you with valuable information about your limits and why you believe and act in certain ways. By knowing these things you can work to change them and/or to minimize the negative impact they may have on others around you. For example, if I am the Principal of a school, I am responsible for effectively working with and providing my best self to those that I work with each day. Therefore it is important that I know my strengths, weaknesses, and have a plan to work on myself in order to minimize negative effects on the school community that I am "leader" of.
I am certain that I will have good days and bad days as I journey on becoming a better version of myself. Looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead.
