By Natalie Irons, Associate Director, Instructional Coaching Programs
Coaching Partnerships Blog
June signals celebrations, transitions and much needed time to rejuvenate. It can also be a time to reflect on the year to inform planning for the next year. That reflection can be a way to make space for people and thinking to keep in balance the change that is inevitable with the stability we need to feel productive, and even sane.
A mentor, Carolyn McKanders says we can be “ambassadors of sanity.” Listening through the ways people talk and share their values and beliefs is one way to be that ambassador. Recently I heard a school leader say, “We can’t service all students with what they need.” I wondered why that statement struck me. Was my personal bias surfacing as I support my own daughter to get her needs met at school? Remaining curious, I did some research about bias to check on my thinking.
Simply Psychology defines bias generally as “a tendency to lean in favor of or against a person, group, idea, or thing, usually in an unfair way.” I also remember reading an article years ago speculating that biases may be very hard to unlearn as they are deeply embedded in our perceptions, memories and beliefs. These “mental models” shape our meaning making in the world. My experiences navigating school with a teenage daughter on the spectrum have definitely shaped my mental model for how schools support—or don’t – students with special needs.
I am also aware that my experiences inform how I listen to someone who may have different experiences. I get to pause and consider both my story and theirs. I hope to come out of that interaction with shared meaning making that enriches us both and brings just a bit more sanity to the world as well.
Who might you choose to be when listening to differing beliefs from your own? What might be a mental model that shapes those beliefs? What actions might be available to you based on those mental models?