Monday, April 18, 2011

John Wooden's - Five Things to Share

In the book, The Essential Wooden, A Lifetime of Lessons on Leaders and Leadership, John Wooden shares a list of the important things to share.

Five Things To Share.

Share the Work
Share the Credit
Share the Enthusiasm
Share the Information
Share the Love, Care and Concern

Sharing the work is a natural part of the educational process.  That sharing takes place on many levels in the classroom, between teacher and student, student to student, as well as students in a collaborative group. Students must engage in sharing, whether it is the knowledge the work or ideas. It is the idea that the educational process is more efficient if we embody the concept of TEAM, Together, Each, Achieves, More.

Sharing the credit is often a very difficult idea to get across to students who have been brought up believing that you are measured by the grades you have or the honors you receive.  Students need to create value not for what they accomplish but for who they are.  Students who can measure their success through satisfaction of knowing who they are and understanding the value of their own individuality are typically not concerned about getting credit, but are more concerned with the overall success of those who surround them.

Sharing the enthusiasm extends from the value of passion for all we do. The Lasallian term for this is zeal.  The difference between good and great typically correlates directly to passion for the work.  That enthusiasm is a direct result of the passion demonstrated by the teacher for the subject being taught. That same passion can be contagious amongst the students and even in return to the teacher.

Sharing the information is the basis of the educational process. Sharing comes through clear communication between educator and student and student to student. Realizing, that students learn and communicate utilizing a varying range of modalities.

Sharing the Love, Care and Concern, is the basis by which an educator maximizes the educational process for each student by creating a classroom environment that is inclusive and based upon mutual respect and trust:  an environment where students can approach the unknown with little or no fear, an environment where students are allowed to make mistakes as a part of the learning process, an environment where students are encouraged to participate fully in the learning process.  

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