Schools & What We Mean by Being 'Successful'
Today, Deborah Meier files her first blog response to Todd Sutler of the Odyssey Initiative, who joins her on Bridging Differences this week and next.
Dear Todd,
I notice that even you and I talk in terms of success, so it makes me wonder: What do we mean by words like "the best" or "successful," whether in personal or organizational terms? Does it assume one has to "stand out" from others or a ranking order of celebrity, power, fame? Must there be losers? Is this a race?
Sometime in the late 1960s I decided to become more than "a temporary teacher until ..." But first I knew I had to come to terms with my own divided self—the one that wanted to "change the world"—in some grandiose way—and the one that simply wanted to live an interesting and useful life, which didn't depend upon which way the wind was blowing. My parents were, at first, "disappointed." They both changed their minds when they recognized the fascination and satisfaction that I had in the work I did. (My parents died before, in the small world within which I have worked, I became slightly famous! I guess it would have pleased them.)
I recognize in many young people these days something similar, a kind of "neediness" about being special,
Dear Todd,
I notice that even you and I talk in terms of success, so it makes me wonder: What do we mean by words like "the best" or "successful," whether in personal or organizational terms? Does it assume one has to "stand out" from others or a ranking order of celebrity, power, fame? Must there be losers? Is this a race?
Sometime in the late 1960s I decided to become more than "a temporary teacher until ..." But first I knew I had to come to terms with my own divided self—the one that wanted to "change the world"—in some grandiose way—and the one that simply wanted to live an interesting and useful life, which didn't depend upon which way the wind was blowing. My parents were, at first, "disappointed." They both changed their minds when they recognized the fascination and satisfaction that I had in the work I did. (My parents died before, in the small world within which I have worked, I became slightly famous! I guess it would have pleased them.)
I recognize in many young people these days something similar, a kind of "neediness" about being special,