The Greatest Gift
The Greatest Gift
The greatest gift I can give as an educator is to trust my students.
When I say "I trust you", it frightens them. A lot of them have not been trusted before. But I say it, because it’s a gift to share that trust.
As a new teacher, I rarely said “I trust you” - because I didn’t. I didn’t trust students to understand the topic, to work hard, or to hand in on time.
But what did that say about me and my teaching, if I couldn’t trust students to fulfil their side of the bargain? If I didn’t believe in myself enough to trust them to follow instructions that I was giving?
So now I say “I trust you”, even when I have no idea what they're doing, where their work is, or what’s going on in their creative process. It’s a signal to both of us that we are doing the best job we can with the resources we have.
If I can truly trust them, it means I'm letting go of my control. It's not about me any more - it's about them.
Sharing trust is a moment of empowerment for everyone involved; a moment where we can all choose to be an agent of our own destiny after a lifetime of being told what to do.
It's where service starts - from the grounds of a trusting relationship.
Trust is no easy feeling to generate. Send me your reply or leave a comment with your answer to the following:
“What or who do you place your trust in?”
I’ll share my answer next time.
Bye friends,
Eleanor
From the last issue, the journey I'm really enjoying right now is a gentle curiosity about my own behaviours. So easy to be intrigued by others and yet bored by ourselves, right? Learning to be gently curious about WTF I'm doing is helping me care for myself more. How did you feel about the last issue's question? Was it tricky to think of a response?
Contact:
hello@eleanorsnare.com | eleanorsnare.com | linkedin.com/in/eleanorsnare
Clients: