The Parent Principal

5. "There's no other place I'd rather be."

On the Friday, January 14, 2022 episode of Late Night with Stephen Colbert, guest Cory Stoll was asked what it was like to work with Steven Spielberg on the set of West Side Story. Steven Spielberg is arguably one of the greatest, if not the greatest, film directors of all time. His response to this question was that, and I am paraphrasing, it is evident to all who work with Spielberg that there’s no other place in the world he’d rather be than on the set of a movie. Is there a connection between Spielberg’s passion about what he does and the level of success he has achieved? What does this have to do with The Parent Principal? Read on…

As the principal of an elementary school, one of my responsibilities was to consistently observe teachers and students and then to provide feedback based on what had been observed. These observations were both formal and informal in nature. As important as the observations themselves were, just as important, perhaps even more so, was the feedback that was connected to what I had seen. The feedback itself was also provided in a formal and informal manner, both of which were designed to offer advice, recommendations, suggestions, and sometimes, directives, all for the purpose of improving instruction in teachers.

For the teachers whose students were observed as engaged, inspired, on task, animated, and contributing to the overall learning experience, there was a common denominator in what was observed in those teachers, something that I looked for in my staff and in prospective teachers. The teachers who I considered to be highly effective were those who conducted themselves during lessons and in meetings with staff, administration, and parents, in a way that suggested that there was no other place they would rather be. Put another way, they were passionate about their role as an educator.

Just what does presenting in a manner that suggests for the teacher that there’s no other place they’d rather be, look like in the context of classroom instruction, the relationships within a learning community, how we inspire each other within that learning community, and how we promote student success?

To answer that question, I would offer that the kind of learning environment we provide for our students is more important than how we plan and prepare instructional experiences for students. It is more important than the actual instructional experiences we provide, which includes how engaged students are during instruction, how well we communicate with students during instruction, and how we assess student success within the framework of each lesson.

The learning environment provided is an inherent part of one’s professional responsibilities, which includes how educators reflect on what they do, how they participate in all learning community settings, and how they develop professionally. In other words, planning and preparation, putting instructional practices into place, and fulfilling one’s professional responsibilities are enhanced and optimized when an educator truly feels passionate about their role in promoting student academic, social, emotional, and behavioral success–believing and presenting in a manner that suggests that there’s no place they would rather be.

A teacher whose passion is on display and at the very heart of the learning environment created for students, provides instructional experiences that inspire, engage, and promote greater student interest and interactions within the framework of the lesson.

We should all aspire to be a member of a learning community for whom the answer to the question, ‘What are they like?”, would be, “They act as if there’s no other place they’d rather be.”