Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Humility and Consistency

I recently read Tony Dungy's autobiography which discussed the coach's life, and of course had a huge emphasis on his team's Super Bowl winning season in 2007. While it was kind of typical in regards to most leadership books, there was one point made that really resonated with me. In the second or third year of his stay at Tampa Bay where he coached the Buccaneers, he started preaching a message with his players just to continue to buy into the system and philosophy that the coaching staff had emphasized since Dungy arrived. Let me repeat that statement and capitalize the most important word in the previous sentence. He started preaching a message with his players just to CONTINUE to buy into the system and philosophy that the coaching staff had emphasized since Dungy arrived. I think the more time that I spend around successful teachers at my school, the more I realize that they don't do anything that is that ground-breaking or that exciting. They're not necessarily the rock-star teachers of the school, and for the most part I think they go unnoticed by a large portion of the faculty; but they show up and display a remarkable amount of consistency to a group of students in an inconsistent environment.

I've been trying to adopt this philosophy to my own teaching style this semester, and the crazy thing is that I think it's working a lot more effectively. And....I'm starting to feel more like a true teacher rather than just a teacher that the kids like. I remember coming into the program and having an attitude that I just liked being around young people, simply because they brought me a lot of enjoyment. We seemed to like each other, and I had always craved that kind of attention and affection that kids give to adults that they looked up to. But I think there's a huge part of me that is in constant admiration of someone like Jeremy Fiel.....and please don't think that I'm implying that Jeremy is not a charismatic teacher in his own way. I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is that I think Jeremy is a phenomenally effective teacher because of his consistency and maturity. He's a TEACHER. He's a 24-year old that's a part of a dying breed.

Whenever we get together for class sessions in Oxford, I never feel like Jeremy is one that stands out. His voice rarely displays a varying inflection except when he gets excited, and he's always in class ready to take care of business. But the guy is a remarkable role model not only for his students but for other teachers around. I'm starting to notice how effective a humble, consistent style of leadership is. I wish I'd realized this a lot sooner.