This fifth session felt pivotal as I planned for the session and later, as I entered the room. I felt the urgency of time in the pit of my stomach – that fluttering, antsy (like literally filled with busy ants) feeling in my gut. We only had 6 sessions total (what was I thinking?? That’s not enough time, and yet…) and next week we’d be closing things up through reflection of our goals and of the experience, so this fifth week had to address trust which is a foundational characteristic of radical love. It also is tied deeply with data collection which is a foundational characteristic of instructional coaching and support of teachers. The room was light in contrast to my ants building huge anthills in my gut, folks were quietly chatting, catching up since last week. The ants slowed down a bit and I was able to begin the session without much fanfare.
So again, we started with our Community agreements and then the goals of the session:
- Building Trust through:
- Collecting data through conversations, visiting the target class.
- Demonstrating care.
- Prioritizing proximity.
- Focusing on equitable outcomes.
This session would be primarily about sensemaking and making the radical love action of trust building our own through story telling. It would also be a time to see if the trust we had built through the 5 weeks was strong enough to talk about something so vulnerable.
As we began discussing trust, I shared Stephen Covey’s list of Behaviors that Build Trust:
- Talk Straight
- Demonstrate Respect
- Create Transparency
- Right Wrongs
- Show Loyalty
- Deliver Results
- Get Better
- Confront Reality
- Clarify Expectations
- Practice Accountability
- Listen First
- Keep Commitments
- Extend Trust
This helped lay the groundwork for the dialogue that was expected with the following questions:
How Do You Build Trust With Individuals? With Groups? With A Staff?
What Are The Moves You Make?
What Are The Words You Use?
“Recognize the good, say it to the person as close to the moment”
“Honor the whole person”
“Consistency”
“Clarity in a big group”
“Being protective”
“Cultivating growth”
What Ways Can We Collect Data?
How Can We Ensure That It Is Done In A Loving, Hope Filled Way?
“aspiring to and belief in people’s ability to grow”
“Safety in videoing”
“Honor individuals”
“Can I write down things you say? Can I talk to students?”
“The teacher owns the data”
“How do we get people data to drive the mission? Mission driven.”
This session ended as seamlessly as it had started, we were a community of practice in the best sense of the concept. And on top of that we were experiencing radical love between and amongst each other. Our bigger conversation of trust slowly ended without a specific wrap up or a bow to tie the ending together. One of our community agreements is to expect and accept non-closure and this session lived it. We weren’t closing the door on this concept of trust within radical love, it was just a pause in the conversation for today.
How do you build trust within your learning communities? How do you collect data in a hope filled way? How do we continue our practice of radical love?
lizzie fortin 