ONE WORD: “responsive”
“ONE WORD 2022.” It always makes us think - can one singular word drive and propel all our growth and reflection for an entire year? Of course not, but taking time to choose a singular word implies that we have considered a multitude of words and have engaged in deep reflection to conclusively decide upon one sole adjective to ignite our journey into the new year.
Our starting point in arriving at “Responsive” was to revisit our previous One Words and reflect on their effectiveness to facilitate our growth and reach some of those annual goals. The word “Us” is what we went with in 2020 when we first joined Twitter as The Staffroom Podcast and learned from our PLN about this ceremonial and communal practice of selecting and sharing our driving words for the year. It was about unifying and connecting on a deeper level with our new and growing global community of educators. The word Us manifested and grew, and with this growth came the clear realization that our role within this community had changed. It felt as though our moral responsibility had become to Amplify stories and teacher voice in 2021. Thus, this became our word for the year that we just wrapped up.
When selecting a word for 2022, it was vital for us to analyze whether our two previous choices had been meaningful and impactful in guiding our actions as teachers and members of a global educator community. Seemingly they have, which leads us to our One Word for this year, Responsive, a progressive extension of US and AMPLIFY.
Our place in the teaching community is vastly different than it was when we began our podcast, almost two-and-a-half years ago, and we have become acutely aware that our elevation is a byproduct of so many others that have seen value in our podcast content, the presentations we have delivered and the insights into teaching that we have shared. We are no longer trying to find our relevance in this vast educational space, but we have realized that we have been accepted in a certain capacity, and have carved our place within it. With this ascension, we’ve become focused on our moral and ethical responsibilities to gift back to those that have amplified our voices. In doing so, we ensure our content is driven with the purpose to be responsive to those that share common space with us.
Responsive to each Other and Our Work
A commitment to responsiveness starts with simply being aware and reflective of ourselves and of each other. We often present ourselves as the unified unit of Chey and Pav, which is essentially a manifestation of the internal learning and growing we have done together as we share our lived experiences and connect them with our teachings and each other.
The growth that we share is equally duplicated in conversations and collective learning. To ensure we can truly be responsive to others is to practice being responsive to ourselves as individuals and as partners. This materializes in reading and sharing articles with one another, collaboratively listening to content that works to challenge and expand our thinking, and not just to affirm our current levels of understanding. As we often joke, an evening of learning for us can come from a podcast of Ralph Nader or Brené Brown, perhaps a YouTube clip from Jordan Peterson, an Instagram Reel from Simon Sinek or even a BBC “In Our Time” broadcast.
We are Responsive to one another because we are a team. We are constantly encouraging the other to be the best version of themselves with affirmations, consolation, and words that uplift. We don’t stop there, however, we also challenge each other as well, because we have become aware of what the other is capable of achieving. We know that we are great writers, orators and content creators, that sometimes need to be pushed past our insecurities and perceived shortcomings. This is something that we feel responsible for doing for one another for the benefit of our own learning, and for the growth of our intellectual and psychological selves, both independent and unified.
Responsive to other Teachers and Educators
A large realization that our roles and work was changing in the past year was the increase in presentations we did within our school board and other districts across the United States. It revealed to us that our podcasting journey of self-actualization was one that was being watched and consumed, but also putting us actively, yet unexpectedly and somewhat uncomfortably, in a space where we were presenting to our colleagues. It was apparent to us that our words, content and best practices had to be responsive to the needs and desires of those that were consuming and interacting with our presentations and content.
The reality was that our content could not solely be responsive to things we had witnessed and experienced, but also needed to be substantiated with science, psychology, and research in order to demonstrate to those around us that we were being responsibly responsive to the realities that many of us were sharing in this learning space together.
Despite no follower being more important than any other, this reality of how we conducted ourselves and the content we posted was when late in 2021 Paul Gorski and Gholdy Muhammad both followed our accounts. It may seem like a small and insignificant moment, but it brought with it a realization that our content was being watched, and we had a moral and ethical responsibility to be reflective and responsive with it.
We began to more carefully ensure that what we presented was reflective of our audience and greater community. We never blindly assumed that everyone in our presence, whether at conferences or professional development sessions, was understanding of our positionality and the lived experiences that had shaped us to be who we were, and we never made those same assumptions of our colleagues. We shared stories, we listened to stories. We took those perspectives to heart and ensured that we would carefully navigate the topics that we were bringing to the community. Not only do we endeavour to do this in our direct, live and in-person events, but we strive to do this personally and on social media as well.
Responsive to the Students and their Needs
Despite all this great growth and building in intellectual capacity in the past few years, the need to be responsive with students and community is the ultimate goal of our growth and genuine impact. An irresponsible assumption that we were creating content for social media accolades and financial gain was once made of us in our presence. This incorrect and misrepresented comment and assumption continued to linger in our thoughts from the moment it was asserted. It did make us aware of our intent, but also the impact we were making. We chose to make our content the forefront of who we are, and we do our best to make sure that is what is most represented all the time. Going beyond the performative vernacular, we needed to ensure that we were practicing what we talked about, because in the world of education, in order to be successful content creators, we all need receipts.
We can surely attest that our teaching practice and confidence has soared in the past two years, and that has helped put us in a spot to truly be able to amplify and elevate the voices of the Rexdale community, voices that have traditionally been erased, conveniently used to support system narratives, and most effortlessly overlooked. Our ability to cement social and emotional learning within all facets of the curriculum and teaching, knowing how to cement and foster relationships with content, and to be privy to the nuances of systemic barriers have allowed us greater levels of responsiveness to the students and community in which we live and teach.
Responsive to Quality Learning
As an obvious extension of being responsive to students and community is the notion that we need and want to be committed to being fully responsive to producing quality teaching and learning opportunities. Sometimes with age and experience, we can become stoic in our ways and cemented in doing what we think works best. Some of these things will always be great methodologies, like the traditional read-aloud, but others need constant analysis, reflection and disruption.
In the upcoming year, we are looking to continue to dismantle hierarchies of subjects and literacy by valuing and honouring audio content with the construction of our class podcasts. We also look to further extend our class social justice work and continue to bring in voices that need to be centred, fully embracing important identity work.
Responsive to our Expanding Level of Influence and Impact
As we wrap up our thoughts and expand our Responsiveness in 2022, we look forward to continuing the journey with our upcoming presentations, impactful episodes we have planned for the near future, book publications on the way, and a commitment to teaching in our respective and collective learning spaces. We want to continue to be acutely aware of our surroundings and the eyes and ears that are receptive to our thoughts, words and ideas, not to tell them what they might want to hear, but to be sensitive to what they need to hear from the educational community around them.
When we started this journey we never envisioned our impact in this space. Are we educational movers and shakers? Do people line up to consume every word? Do we topple the podcast charts? No, but we have been invited into the learning spaces of so many educators, and we take that level of responsibility with increased responsiveness. We are thoroughly excited to see where our journey takes us with this intentionality with being more Responsive during the new year, and we hope to continue talking about the process with the educational community along the way.
Happy New Year!
- Chey and Pav
