I am always struck by how much a story sticks with me. Sure, I remember parts of the research and reasons why certain strategies are better to use than others. But, words from personal experience always stick with me.
At a recent PD session with an incredible facilitator, the power of a story was there. He told the group about his own schooling story (I won't give it away here as it is not mine to tell) and it just didn't seem plausible. How could the boy in his story be the same man that stood before us? But, he was. He is. His story is what he brings to his work and gives it color and heart.
I've written about parts of my own story before and the bias it can cause me to bring to my practice. But, it's not really a bias. It can become the context.
As educators, we each bring different experiences to our practice. What we've been through impacts decisions we make in the future. What we've seen with our own eyes gives us hope for new similar situations. What we've overcome gives us inspiration to to move through.
My life is made up of many different stories. One of them I use most often to inform my practice is that of being a child from poverty.
I grew up on this street. I was embarrassed of living on this street, in an apartment you can't see in this picture, that I would run to the top of the hill to be picked up (or dropped off). My grandmother lived in the front apartment in the brown building. When she went to bingo, I snuck onto her porch to use her washing machine so that I would have clean clothes for the next day. I knew how to do the quick cycle in just enough time so that she would not know. But, I could only sneak that on bingo night. No bingo, no clean clothes.
I've written about my grandmother before and how amazing she was to me. My grandmother demanded I make a plan to get "out". I came from a line of waitresses and housekeepers and she wanted better for me. My mother, brother and I lived right next door to my grandmother and had some of the best nights sitting in her living room watching Wheel of Fortune. If we were lucky, those orange, marshmallow peanuts were out and we'd eat them by the handful.
I have many more experiences related to poverty and they don't necessarily fit this post. However, what fits are all of those moments, good and bad, have helped shaped me. They've made me believe more in the underdog. They've allowed me to see more possibility where others only see a little.
They help push me past the negatives. Because our work is so human, I think our minds can get stuck there.
Getting stuck in the negatives (and how to get unstuck) | Alison Ledgerwood | TEDxUCDavis
The real challenge is how to use all of these experiences, all of our experiences, to better support the work moving forward. Moving forward with an eye on the positive and not on the negative. Alison Ledgerwood, in the above clip, describes it as using "gain frame" instead of the "loss frame".
So when I think about that amazing presenter and how he bravely shared his story, I think of the good he has contributed to by having the courage to give a voice to students that enter the classrooms of today with those same struggles. He didn't talk about what he didn't have then. He talked about what he HAD and the impact THOSE factors had on him.
I see my story and experience as impacting me in the same way. Overcoming odds that are generally written off as insurmountable brings hope to the work that needs to be done. It's about first, second and third chances.
Someone gave them to me.
The least I can do is it pay it forward to others.
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