DR. SHARMANE C. MILLERShould Educators be Compelled to Engage in Personal Development? – DR. SHARMANE C. MILLER https://www.sharmanemiller.com Empowering Teachers to Learn, Lead and Live with Passion Mon, 24 Jun 2019 17:28:57 +0000 en-US hourly 1 79543380 Should Educators be Compelled to Engage in Personal Development? https://www.sharmanemiller.com/?p=131 https://www.sharmanemiller.com/?p=131#comments Wed, 08 Apr 2015 04:41:58 +0000 Sharmane Miller http://www.sharmanemiller.com/?p=131 No doubt, you’ve attended scores of workshops and conferences all focused on equipping you with scores of teaching strategies.  But how many seminars have you been a part of that targeted your personal development? I’m talking about the kind of development that focuses on YOU as a person and not just you as an educator.

Image courtesy of Lanet Glass

Image courtesy of Lanet Glass

If you are like most teachers, you probably can number the personal development seminars on one hand.  This is a serious indictment, especially for persons who work every day to shape the lives of future leaders.  When we consider that we teach what we know but duplicate who we are, then it’s a crying shame that we take little time to improve our personal skills.

Though I have been teaching since 1994, I must admit that all of the personal development training I’ve ever received came through my involvement in private business ventures.  Thankfully, I had a mentor who ate, slept and lived personal development.  So, she always encouraged me to do the same in order to increase my skill set.

Wouldn’t you agree that skills such as balancing life, listening attentively, arguing constructively, communicating effectively and people skills like influencing people positively are worth enhancing? Sure they are!

So, why is it that personal development, which focuses on improving oneself on a continuous basis, gets little attention among educators?  Perhaps if we consider the benefits of this dynamic process, we would readily embrace it.  Here are ten advantages of engaging in personal development:

  1. Clearer ideas about the kind of life and work you want
  2. Greater confidence in the choices you make
  3. A better understanding of how you learn and how to improve your performance
  4. Greater confidence in your own skills and talents that you bring to education
  5. Better positioning for promotion
  6. Improved reflective thinking capabilities that enhances your performance
  7. Better problem-solving and planning expertise
  8. A more positive attitude and approach related to a successful personal and professional life
  9. More enjoyment and less stress as you keep yourself motivated AND
  10. A sense of direction that brings improved focus and effectiveness

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but one that should nudge you to reconsider the value of personal development to you.

What you have today, you have attracted by becoming the person you are today.  So to have more than you’ve got, I challenge you to become more than you are.  Our students deserve it; our community deserves it and you owe it to YOURSELF.

Leave a comment:  In what type of personal development activity do you engage?  How has such an activity impacted you?

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