What Are You Doing?

I heard a story at church years ago that goes something like this:

Three people were working, basically doing the same thing. They were asked the same question: What are you doing? The first responded by saying that he was laying bricks. The second individual explained that he was building a wall. The third person stated that he was constructing a cathedral.

What a difference in the mindset of these people who were all doing the same thing. It’s not hard to realize which person had more passion and purpose for the work. I bet there would be a difference in the quality of the work too based upon this passion and purpose.

Hearing this got me thinking about how this simple story applies to education, and for that matter, probably all walks of life. Having passion and purpose is so important.

I wasn’t there with these three individuals, but I bet the third person had more autonomy in the job and was included in the development and formation of the bigger picture of the work. There is a good chance that the other two were simply told by their boss what to do and where to do it.

We want teachers who are passionate and purposeful as well. For many years in Pennsylvania I worked with pre-service teachers who were learning the profession and/or completing internships within the schools. I can say from experience that nearly every one of these individuals was overflowing with passion. They were excited about teaching. They wanted to make a difference. They graduate. They obtain a teaching position and then in some cases the passion is lost.

We can prevent that as leaders. We can keep their excitement and passion burning. To do this we need to continually have conversations about the big picture, about inspiring students to be curious about their world, and to be innovative toward creating a brighter future. Each and every day can be an opportunity for a child to find or refine their passion. As educators we can model this every day. We can be excited about what we do. We can approach students with lessons that are relevant, meaningful, and have purpose. We can help students build lives that are cathedrals. As Head of Lower School I will do all I can to keep the passion burning for our teachers and for our students so as to avoid the job of just “laying bricks.”