Listening & learning from the National Teachers of the Year
Jennifer Rosenthal
Chief Communications Officer @ DeFi Education Fund ? PRSA-NY ‘23 - 15 Under 35 Awardee
Saturday morning opened with a conversation about expertise, and an NPR podcast: “Being labeled an expert may contribute to someone being close-minded.” It’s a quick 3-minute podcast – and worth the listen! Research demonstrates that being an expert (and internalizing that title) can change the composition of the human brain.
Current and past Teachers of the Year reflected on ‘imposter syndrome’ and oscillating between feeling like they had lots of knowledge to share and reflecting on situations where they wished they had said “I’m not sure… let me get back to you,” as they would in a classroom setting. Saturday’s "Next Steps Meeting" workshops were structured to help the 2018 Teachers of the Year think about individual positioning and next steps for their leadership journeys.
Sarah Brown Wessling, 2010 National Teacher of the Year from Iowa, proposed the following framework to mitigate the potentially negative effects and perceptions of expertise: CONTEXT - WHAT - HOW.
“More context, more how, less what – that’s how you get people to listen.” – Sarah Brown Wessling
The WHAT is our expertise: it’s the thing we do (a lesson or action) as a result of our expertise. And, it’s the least important part of this framework. The WHAT is sandwiched between CONTEXT and HOW. The CONTEXT is the reason for why we do what we do: were we curious? Were we trying to solve a problem? Did we fail and look for a different solution? Our CONTEXT bolsters our credibility because it humanizes us by building trust and demonstrating authenticity. The HOW is the execution of the action, and helps our audience understand our WHAT, while also giving them actionable takeaways to apply to their own life/situations.
I think it begs a few question of companies, brands, and experts, in general: how can we most effectively leverage and position our expertise to benefit others? How can we be sure that we're not over-explaining-- without providing necessary context or helpful, actionable insights?
Teachers are innovators and change makers, and I think we, as business professionals, can benefit greatly by continuing to listen and learn from them.