When educators think about showing up in a classroom every day, what is top of mind? Probably lesson plans, materials, photocopies, books, overall preparedness, and outcomes. We don’t usually think about vulnerability, or curiosity, or empathy, or how our values support the important work we do with children daily.
Brené Brown says that vulnerability is showing up when we cannot control the outcome – literally what happens every time we step foot into a school! – and that vulnerability is what we feel when we experience times of uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure. See also: every moment in a school!!!
What we do daily with our learners takes a high level of vulnerability. We are vulnerable every time we welcome an observer into our classroom, every time we make a mistake in front of our students (and model our own friendliness with error), and every time we sing and dance with our students. When we think about how we want our students to show up, I think we expect vulnerability from them too. We want them to be wholehearted, with more curiosity than assumptions, and have empathy for each other. I think this is what school leaders want, too, from faculty and staff.
It’s both a tough ask and a fairly simple one: show up, be you, belong, show us who you are, contribute. This can only happen if the space feels like one where these kinds of risks can be taken bravely and without much caution.
The research-based Dare to Lead™ curriculum increases our self-awareness so that we can show up not just with vulnerability, but also with intentionality around that vulnerability. It can be a tough ask when we aren’t in touch with who we are; it’s a fairly simple ask when we take the time to get to know ourselves better and invest in ourselves so that we can continue to invest in others. As Brené Brown also says, “Who we are is how we lead.”
And, if we expect our students to engage in our classrooms and schools with vulnerability, wouldn’t it be impactful if we did the same, with a higher level of consciousness than we may currently be bringing to this pursuit?
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