Читать книгу Group Coaching and Mentoring - Linda Algozzini - Страница 27

While I knew the benefits to such a potential shift would be great for the department as a whole, it was important to consider the diversity of both employees and students. The new vision would have to honor a complex group of professionals who serve a diverse student body. Working with diverse consumers and employees challenges a manager to consider how to break barriers that exist and promote an inclusive environment. Many of these barriers are invisible, but are powerful in their ability to separate individuals. I like to refer to breaking barriers as code breaking, where we learn to appreciate and understand the uniqueness of all individuals while also understanding differences. In essence, we are code breaking when this happens as we learn to understand and better communicate with one another. All this would also require a change that would have to occur within each employee’s personal landscape. This would allow it to be a real shift and positively affect the performance and success of the students served.

I wanted to groom the entire department and each individual into higher level educators; “When educators participate in reflective practices that cultivate self-awareness … they are in a better position to deliver high quality instruction” (Patti, Holzer, Stern, & Brackett, 2012, p. 264). But how could I shift the department to unleash all the potential benefits I had listed and those that were yet to be realized?