No doubt, you’ve attended scores of workshops and conferences all focused on equipping you with scores of teaching strategies. But how many seminars have you been a part of that targeted your personal development? I’m talking about the kind of development that focuses on YOU as a person and not just you as an educator.
Image courtesy of Lanet Glass
If you are like most teachers, you probably can number the personal development seminars on one hand. This is a serious indictment, especially for persons who work every day to shape the lives of future leaders. When we consider that we teach what we know but duplicate who we are, then it’s a crying shame that we take little time to improve our personal skills.
Though I have been teaching since 1994, I must admit that all of the personal development training I’ve ever received came through my involvement in private business ventures. Thankfully, I had a mentor who ate, slept and lived personal development. So, she always encouraged me to do the same in order to increase my skill set.
Wouldn’t you agree that skills such as balancing life, listening attentively, arguing constructively, communicating effectively and people skills like influencing people positively are worth enhancing? Sure they are!
So, why is it that personal development, which focuses on improving oneself on a continuous basis, gets little attention among educators? Perhaps if we consider the benefits of this dynamic process, we would readily embrace it. Here are ten advantages of engaging in personal development:
- Clearer ideas about the kind of life and work you want
- Greater confidence in the choices you make
- A better understanding of how you learn and how to improve your performance
- Greater confidence in your own skills and talents that you bring to education
- Better positioning for promotion
- Improved reflective thinking capabilities that enhances your performance
- Better problem-solving and planning expertise
- A more positive attitude and approach related to a successful personal and professional life
- More enjoyment and less stress as you keep yourself motivated AND
- A sense of direction that brings improved focus and effectiveness
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but one that should nudge you to reconsider the value of personal development to you.
What you have today, you have attracted by becoming the person you are today. So to have more than you’ve got, I challenge you to become more than you are. Our students deserve it; our community deserves it and you owe it to YOURSELF.
Leave a comment: In what type of personal development activity do you engage? How has such an activity impacted you?
Thank you, Dr. Miller for being the driving force of empowerment to help educators realize that we have to continuously reinvent ourselves if we are to be relevant to the population we serve.
Personal Development is the key: the better you are as a person, the greater your impact. When we purpose to grow daily we become comfortable with who we are and we broaden our focus and become less self-centered.
I applaud you for the taking this bold step, and I am looking forward to an enriching experience as I take advantage of the Personal Development opportunity being offered by you on a consistent basis.
Thank you, Sylvia! It was very encouraging to have a school principal of your calibre taking part in the sessions, especially one whom I know engages in personal development on a daily basis. Thanks for reminding us to continuously reinvent ourselves. That’s sage advice for 21st century educators!