"I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."
(Philippians 4:13)
During my early days as an aspiring teacher decades ago, a "tip" I frequently heard from cagey veterans was, "Don't let your students see you smile until Christmas." I took this as hyperbole at the time, some sort of overstatement by experienced hands trying to convey the importance for a teacher to establish a well managed, orderly classroom environment. But the frequency with which I heard this, even as hyperbole, in my new profession helped me understand over time why so many students often felt turned off -- rather than inspired -- by school. It also made me wonder how in the world educators who held to such beliefs thought that they could somehow later "flip the switch" to create a lively and engaging setting for bringing out the best in their students when the stale classroom climate die had already been cast months prior.
And of course the switch almost assuredly never did flip. For this mantra comes from some deep place in the speaker, from a core belief in order and control rather than in faith and trust -- and a belief to such degree in the importance of control is hard to ever let go! To be sure, this mindset positions the teacher as the doler out of knowledge and the sole source of order for the classroom domain through the power of the position, which unfortunately then leads to the energy of the classroom being too often used to maintain that position of power rather than in the building up of others.
In contrast, high-impact educators hold a different belief. They understand that while an orderly classroom environment is certainly important, it must also be welcoming, inclusive, and nurturing. And, rather than cling to power and control, high-impact educators take many efforts in the early days of the school year to empower and partner with students to build a strong environment for building up themselves and others. So from its very genesis, this classroom climate is an orderly -- but also an affirming -- place. For the high-impact educator holds the deep-seated belief that the building up of knowledge itself is never enough; it needs to be paired with the development of confidence so that the learner can increasingly gain and share the fruits of learning and insight in a world greatly in need of them.
In many ways, this mindset of the high-impact educator seems aligned well with the passage above from Philippians: "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." People working from this mindset embody in both word and action high expectations for self and others, conveying that effort matters and that the fruits of our efforts can be virtually limitless. It's a very affirming stance to take, aimed at development and growth -- an empowering stance that simultaneously helps ourselves and others connect to the real source of that power.
Many of us have been products of a different mindset, though, where we may have been conditioned to focus on the negative in ourselves and in others. Through such negative messaging, we stifle potential and limit the original blessing that we have all received. Father Richard Rohr of the Center for Action and Contemplation provides some simple, practical, yet very powerful means to make the transition to a more affirming and growth-oriented mindset, an approach which turns such unproductive messages on their head:
"Think of a negative phrase that you have said aloud or thought to yourself that stems from a sense of shame rather than from your inherent dignity. Turn it upside down and say, in first person, present tense, an affirmation of your God-given value. For example:
I am unlovable. . . . I am infinitely loved.
I don't have enough. . . . I have everything I need.
I am stupid. . . . I have the mind of Christ.
I am worthless. . . I am precious in God's eyes, I am honored, and God loves me.
Repeat the positive statement, aloud, slowly, with intention and trust, several times. Then rest silently in the awareness that you are already and forever, without any effort or achievement on your part, a beloved child of God."
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Dear Lord,
Thank you for the many gifts you provide. Among those gifts most cherished, thank you for making me precious in Your eyes, infinitely honored, infinitely loved. Help me to cultivate in myself and in others a deep and abiding peace that arises from the understanding that we are each a beloved child of God. And please let the power of today's passage settle deeply into my core so that this belief can guide my daily thoughts and actions: "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."
In Your Almighty Name, I pray,
Amen.
