A simple search for “Top 50 Self Help Books of All Time” led me to a list where the top three titles were:
- Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy by David D. Burns M.D.
- Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
- 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
25 million copies of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People have sold worldwide. 1.6 million copies of Outliers has touched the fingers of those eagerly awaiting their success. IF we assumed that knowledge meant the same as understanding, then by these statistics, 25 million people worldwide should be models of effectiveness. 1.6 million people would be successful. Now perhaps there are some in the 25 million who have radically changed the way they approach life, but I’m making the sweeping assumption that not all 25 million have engaged with life in this capacity. Having knowledge about how to be effective is not at all the same as having an understanding.
As educators we are action researchers. We take in new knowledge all the time. We have to work to develop an understanding. You know the phrase, “it’s just like riding a bike”? Well, in this video, Destin from Smarter Everyday, shows us that riding a bike can be really, really difficult. What makes this difficult is that our brain is telling us that we KNOW how to do it? We know how to stay balanced and pedal and steer, but when we flip the bike backwards our brains can no longer rely on the knowledge of riding. Instead we have to think deeply about how to maneuver the bike. We have to develop an understanding of how to ride a bike. Let’s see how well some of our Teacher Leaders did riding a backwards bike at a recent training.
So, how do we as professionals deepen our knowledge to the point of understanding? As teachers we make 1,500 educational decisions every day. That’s more than four decisions per minute. If we don’t slow down and take the time to think about those decisions from time to time, we sacrifice the ability to gain understanding, and we are constantly wading in the pool of knowledge.
When we slow down to process our knowledge, understanding grows. When we deeply reflect with another person, our understanding grows. When we watch others, our understanding grows. When we invite others into our classroom to collect data and give us feedback, our understanding grows. If we get caught in the spokes of telling ourselves that we know how to do something, we risk the ability to deeply reflect, process, refine, and grow. We risk understanding.
Pick one thing. We do not have to develop an understanding of all of the new or revised research in education. We do need to invest time and energy into a few areas where we will purposefully develop an understanding. Where will you choose to invest your time and energy?
