“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” Leo Tolstoy (or herself)
The Cambridge dictionary defines change as “make or become different ”
The first step to change is change thyself
Fear is the twin sister of change
I am a fan of change. Not change for the sake of changing, but change for a value filled motive. And I determine the value. As Erica Jong said “I have accepted fear as part of life – specifically the fear of change… I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says: turn back….”
You may say listen to your instincts… the pounding heart. But I say listen to the kind of fear you are facing and then go forward. Start getting to know your fear…believe me, this is your change journey’s biggest step.
Of course if there is a wild elephant in the room you don’t open that door- but who told you about that wild elephant? Whose lens are you peering from? Yours or someone else’s? And also question the ‘Why’ and the dominant narratives of the time. Think change for yourself, by yourself first. Be you. Take ownership of your life and your change, your growth and transformation.
Be your own leader. Lead YOU
Trust yourself. Trust your uniqueness. Trust who you are … your personal and your professional identity. And go for change. Go for that first baby step. It could be anything. A vision board you make in the privacy of your study or a dialogue you start with your colleagues, a letter you write to your country’s leader, a meeting you lead, or a peaceful protest. You will work it out. Once you do your bit to change your own way of looking at your self, then comes transformation. This is inevitable.
After all as Early Childhood teachers aren’t we transformative practitioners (or supposed to be) ? Reflective practice is no good if you have not actioned your goals. And I’m talking real, meaningful action. Not some bullet points that ‘look good’ on paper and serve to tick off your registration criteria or other such required documentation. That is important yes but tick the criteria firstly for you.. not just for the documentation. Make it meaningful for YOU, then you will find everything changes and fits into place. There is a purpose to your life- to your teaching. A purpose to your advocacy and so on. So I say, take the next step from reflection-make that reflection raw and open. Only then there is the clarity and your next step, your next path will show itself-very clearly. Be your own leader and then lead others if you may… but first it is YOU . Always.
Freedom is the Heart of change
“We are not trapped or locked up in these bones. No, no. We are free to change… ” Walter Mosley
But do we know this? Do we really know this from the bottom of our heart? Do we know that each and every one of us has the freedom, the power to change? I think if we ask ourself this with honesty we know the answer. We are free. As teachers, leaders, business owners, or whatever role we have. We are free to change. And we are also free to feel good, our hearts to gladden with this change that we make in ourselves. ‘Ourselves’ includes our profession as teachers that is integrally Us. The profession that is a calling, a vocation, a Love.
Empower yourself. Freedom is the heart of change. Freedom is the hidden gem that will shine more and more the more you use it. Use it or lose it!
The Power of Love
“…And love changes us. And if we can love one another, we can break open the sky.” Walter Mosley
We as early childhood teachers confidently say that we love the children in our care and we do love our profession and that is why we are here but can we also say we love our team? Genuine love, genuine caring will break all barriers. Relationships and connections are the key. This overrides all other theories and fixes or Professional development courses that we may take or the qualifications we gain. If we cannot love and care for our fellow teachers, our teams we cannot move forward. Reflect on this honestly then Change. Listen and care and the environment will transform. Status quo of negative baggage of tensions in your work environment will be akin to a rotting pond of stagnation where growth is impossible. Except if you are like the Lotus flower that spreads its beauty even in the midst of muddy stagnant water. As I said be that unique Lotus, Be you, be the change, lead the change.
Stagnation is the arch enemy of growth, transformation, rejuvenation and fulfilment. Stagnation is a killjoy and steals your life force insidiously. Stagnation stinks of complacency.
Complacency is suicidal to progress
Have you ever heard the phrase “we have always done it this way?” If you have, then you need to get worried about working in an environment that will not support change because it upsets the apple cart, upsets agendas, upsets comfort zones… clears stagnation! Now is your chance. It starts with you…Let us not get complacent. Let us not wait for that ‘other ‘ to take the first step to change. Conquer fear with the fear of complacency. Conquer change. Change starts with you. What can you do in your profession for YOU that will be a change for YOU? The environment will change when you change your attitude. Yes it will. Believe me. No, believe You.
And My point is
From the perspective of Early Childhood Education, how vitally important for us as teachers to be open to change! To advocate for our children who will be the citizens of tomorrow, the caretakers of our planet, and last but not least to advocate for ourselves and our profession. One could spend days discussing about all that is not right in our profession and who is to blame, yes it is important to discuss and dialogue. This is the first step to change but there HAS to be the next step. What am I doing about this? what can I do to change things to make it better for our children and my profession.
There is a change movement happening all over the globe in ECE. Long long overdue. Because can children’s childhood wait? Every day every moment is a gem of opportunity missed for our children if we haven’t done our bit and advocated change. Think about special needs children. Think about children from war torn countries, think about all our children. What if it was your child?
Did anyone ever say change is easy?
NO. You will have your own voice inside you saying no no no go with the flow. Or with your change actions you could easily make some others very uncomfortable around you. I promise you will have naysayers all around you, Those who say “ we have always done it this way” and one of those voices will most likely be your own. Silence the noise, empower yourself to reflect quietly and confidently. You will see the answer, crystal clear.
Consider this: If all the greats in history Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela etc said “ we have always done not this way” or if they bowed down to fear , if they buried their heads in the blinding sands of ignorance, inaction and complacency… where would we be today? Also, If all the unsung heroes of history said this how would our world look today?
What will our world look like for our children, for our grandchildren for posterity, if we became complacent? If we kept silent?
If we only let the ‘others’ maybe the more vocal’ of us who are easily perceived as leaders of our profession do the job, take the action, if we stayed complacent … if we went with the tide (may work in a different context but not when our profession, our identity, our children are the cost). So what if we did just what we are comfortable doing, what if we put our heads in the sand… what would we leave behind for our children? And the grave would be a rich rich place with our dreams buried with us. Honestly, the price for not changing is too high. When I’m 80 or whatever age that would be the evening of my life I don’t want ‘Regret’ as my bedfellow. I want to feel at peace with the knowledge that I tried to change myself and my environment for the sake of my values, my philosophy, my principles and for a greater cause that is bigger than me. That I danced with Fear, that I did a waltz and a salsa and sometimes I fell down and hurt myself but got up again for another round. I want to say that I never ever missed a chance to do that dance, that I gave it a go, gave it my ALL and did not just sit on a fence and let it all happen to me. No I make it happen. I happen to it.
Change Matters.
Musings - The Early Years blog 