Empathy and Trust: The Standards For Which We Must Strive

We must see everyone in our schools as a human being.  Everyone!

This includes students (ALL students), teachers (regular education, special education, health and physical education), custodial staff, administrative assistants, food service workers, paraprofessionals, administrators, and especially parents.  We must remember that education is personal to every one of our students.  We are all human beings with fears and talents.

Empathy and trust must be the standards for which we strive.  Empathy is the essential connection we experience when we feel with someone.  It is the single greatest asset in education and in life; empathy brings a long-lasting feeling of all the good that exists and reassures human beings that they are not alone.

To earn trust, we must extend trust.  We must believe in the goodness of people and we need to treat them as if they are that goodness.  We must lead with our hearts as well as with our minds.

We must see test scores, academic standards, and budgets as subordinate to people and not the other way around.  In my experience, all three of these have, at different times, been seen as more important than the people in the organization.  If we're ever going to reach our goals for children and learning, human connection and empathy must be our highest priority.

The only way to advance education is for people to pull together as a community and focus on empathy, build trust, and respect everyone.

We need to rebuild schools that have, as their highest priority, the care of human beings.