Why? It's the one question I don't think we as educators-teachers or administrators-ask ourselves often enough. Why do we teach what we teach? Why do we grade the way that we do? Why do we do this lab activity? Why do we have students write this essay? Why do we have the classroom rules and procedures that we do? Why are we having teachers sit through this professional development session? Why do we have teachers turn in lesson plans? Why aren't we requiring teachers to improve and grow in their practice? Why aren't we making any forward progress as an organization?
There are lots of "whys" we should be asking ourselves. But we also need to be honest with ourselves when answering those whys, as well as evaluating the quality of the answer. Because if there is no answer or the answer is anything like, "Because that's what we've always done" or "Our community won't allow it," those aren't really valid reasons for maintaining the status quo.
If the answers to our "whys" have nothing to do with what's best for students, then we need to make a change, and educate anyone involved in why the change that's being made is best for students. The "whys" help us improve, help us move forward, and help us start doing amazing things for students and their learning.
To me, "Why?" is one of the most important questions educators can ask, because it helps us make that relentless forward progress schools and districts need to be making to do right by our students.
Image credit: Bart Everson via Flickr
