The following definition of “Inspired Teaching” describes both the attributes of inspired teachers and things one must do to achieve inspired environments. It was developed three years ago by a group of public school teachers and administrators (Valerie Benton, Suzanne Loring, Helen Buzzell, Diane Wyder, Priscilla Conner, Delana Yeaton, Chris Wyder, Fatma Perry, Lisl Fuson and Laura Ouellette) in Maine School Administrative District #9, Farmington, Maine in cooperation with The Boothby Institute. It is not intended that this or any definition be agreed with or considered “the” definition of inspired teaching.

What is important in every environment is entering into a conversation about what being inspired is and how to achieve it, developing a working, ever expanding, alive definition that fosters inspired environments and supports those who create them. While the actual definitions are likely to be almost identical, the process itself is what is important.

It makes real the experience that we not only understand what is involved in creating inspired environments but that the capability to do so resides within each of us. We must choose it on as daily basis.

Inspired teachers (aides, principals, bus drivers, custodians, kitchen staff, etc., etc.)

Love kids and demonstrate kindness toward them.

If you do not love children, young adults, working with children in general, please choose another profession. Absolutely nothing is more important than how we “hold” people in our care. For the purpose of having a starting place, let us see if we can agree on a working definition of “love.”

A Working Definition of What it Means to Love Someone:

If I brought you a ten year old from a third world country and asked you what you wanted for that child’s life, I have a hunch you would say most, if not all, of the following:

a.You would not want food or shelter to be an issue in their lives.

b.You would want them to have/lead a meaningful, productive, contributory, joyous life and have the tools necessary to do so.

c.Your concern for them would be absolute and unconditional.

d.You would treat them with dignity, grace and loving-kindness.

(Infatuation, sexuality, and choosing mates are separate matters and not intended to be included in any way in this conversation or these relationships.)

People need to know that they are loved and valued unconditionally and absolutely in order to be able to experience the power that resides within each of them. Each of us arrives with the capacity to love and be loved as well as to make choices that allow us to create lives of value and purpose. However, if a person grows up with no experience of these core capacities, they are impossible to access without the support of another human being.

Today in a short workshop for the staff of a non-profit organization, I asked if anyone other than me in the room had ever felt that they did not have value and were able to turn that experience around. About twenty people, better than two-thirds of the staff said they shared a sense of “I Don’t Matter” at some point in their lives. I then asked if any of those who raised their hands had been able to do this without the support of a person who loved them absolutely and unconditionally, while at the same time they were producing results which they knew they had achieved for themselves. There were no exceptions whatsoever. Among the eight thousand people I have asked this question, there has never been another pathway expressed. How is it possible we do not see the implications of this?

For those of you in service or production related fields, what reaction would you get from customers if they were treated with loving-kindness? How efficient and productive do you think employees would be in such an environment?

• Teach students first, then subjects.  Students are not computers. They need to know why something might be important in their lives.
• Are passionate about their subject area.
• If you are not really excited about what you are sharing with your students, what makes you think they will be.
• Make the choice each day to be inspired before entering the classroom.

All of us have situations and circumstances that we cannot completely handle before we must be present somewhere else. You are on your way to work at school on Monday morning as a fifteen-year teaching veteran. Imagine that you have had a very difficult weekend with your spouse, one where you say, “Good Morning, and they act as if you said, “Suck eggs!” You pick up your first piece of luggage.

You park your car and a snowplow crushes the side of the first new car you have had in ten years. You pick up the second bag.

You enter the building and your boss is waiting for you because you did not complete something she really needed on Friday. She is in a bad mood and you get chewed out.

You proceed down the hall to your classroom or workspace and say, “Good morning, folks, it’s really good to be here.” They don’t believe you. That is because we brought our baggage with us. They can sense that we are not really present.

Now imagine asking yourself the following questions; the baggage may be parkable, to be dealt with later. Is there anything I can do about my relationship at 7 A.M on Monday morning? Probably not. Knowing that I’ll want to get back to it later, can we leave the relationship at home for the time being? Let’s assume the answer is yes. Occasionally it may be no and we’ll get to that in a minute. After calling the wrecker, the police and the insurance company, is there anything to be done about the car now? Not really. Can we leave the car at the garage? Assume yes. We screwed up and did not complete a piece of work. It can’t be done now; can we leave it alone until later? Assume yes.

If we can do this, we can remind ourselves of the purpose of school (to assist young people in creating meaningful, productive, contributory, joyous lives and have the tools necessary to do so) and get truly focused, we are far more likely to be present. On those occasions when there are things we cannot let go of, if we acknowledge that, others will be mindful of what is going on with us and we can explain how the process with baggage works.

Do you want a mechanic who is “present” working on your family member’s car or one who is wallowing in remorse for a poorly spent weekend?

How present do you want your doctor to be when she is working to give you a “total knee replacement” or better yet a three-artery by-pass?

(We will stop here with the process of amplifying the definition “Inspired Environment” and pick up again, right here with our August newsletter.)

• Are personally motivated
• Are always 200% prepared
• Realize that students need to take responsibility for their own lives and their own learning
• Are present in the moment (bring their full attention to their actions and words)
• Are open to miracles (that every student has the capacity to create a meaningful, productive, contributory, joyous life for themselves)
• Know that the value of a person has nothing to do with their academic achievement
• Know that what a student did or did not produce yesterday has nothing to do with what they achieve today
• Take care of themselves and encourage students to do self-care as well
• Make constant connections between their subject, their students and life in general
• Are excited about what students are passionate about
• Recognize that a diversity of approaches reaches more students
• Are comfortable in their own skin and with their teaching style
• Make a personal connection with their students before beginning a lesson
• Know that every student wants to be valued
• Learn every student’s name within the first week of class
• Recognize that our teaching technique is part of who we are and may be different from other teachers
• Reflect upon what’s working and not working both in the classroom and personally and make corrections accordingly
• Know that results, academic and otherwise (students owning results, behavior, being responsible), are an indication of whether what they are doing is working
• Recognize that making mistakes is an opportunity to know what you don’t know and to do something about it for themselves and their students
• Know that everything we do matters
• Are lifelong learners
• Are resilient optimists
• Are at peace, secure within themselves
• Do the best job they can do each moment

Students become self-motivated, responsible, self-disciplined, inspired and empowered around inspired teachers.

There are two issues that are most important. The process of creating a definition of “Inspired Environment” is critical to any group attempting to create an inspired environment in reality. “Knowing” a definition is not the issue. Knowing that the definition is within you is critical. It is the primary distinction between experience and understanding. Understanding inspiration is all but useless. Experiencing it is essential.