2 Developing Passion Based Teachers: Midwifing?

I've been reflecting a lot lately on leadership, change and passion based teaching as is evident in the various blog posts over the last month.  Precisely, I'm in the midst of reflecting on what I can do to be a better leader for the teachers that I help; where can I let go and where can I lead.  Luckily, every once in a while, something comes along that gives you that little push that you need to get up and get going on a new path.  Thanks to @ktenkely and her latest blog post I received that passion-filled push that I was requiring!

On her post she placed the video that I also posted above.  While the message of creativity and passion are resoundingly clear, it was the part at the 12:00 mark that peaked my interest.  I encourage you to watch the entire video on this amazing school called High Tech High, but would ask that you pay particular attention to the final few minutes.

Here's a list of the points/quotes that I'm interested in with respect to leading my teachers toward becoming passion filled educators:

Click below to read more!
Leaders need to...

• be evocative... be midwives with teachers
• draw out personal experiences of great learning from teachers and have teachers use them as inspiration
• establish that great personal learning experiences are what the school is advocating for and ask teachers to reflect on if their current practice mirrors what they loved about learning when they were younger
• encourage teachers to share their passions outside school and supprt the integration of those passions into their professional practice
• help redefine rigor as "being in the company of a passionate adult who is rigoursly pursuing inquiry in the area of their subject matter and inviting students along as peers"
• establish a self-assessment benchmark of high quality teaching as:  the level of sophistication of your student's work; student work that's worth doing; student work that has lasting value; student work that has learning that's worth learning

Teachers need to...

• reflect on how they learned in school and what their most memorable learning experiences were
• reflect on what's stopping them from creating great personal learning experiences in their classroom and commit to making a change happen
• incorporate their personal passions in their professional practice as a model for students
• analyse the work they assign to their students and self reflect on if it is the type of work that shows sophistication, lasting value, engagement and relevance
• give students the chance to try on new roles and sample new identities and not just study them, but BE like them 

The dictionary states that a midwife is "one who assists in or takes a part in bringing about a result." Many of us may know that a good midwife assesses, coaches and encourages people to do what they might, at the time, feel is uncomfortable. In the vein of being a midwife to my teachers, I'm planning on taking these simple steps, in particular reflecting on personal learning in the past, and using them with my staff during our next meeting as a stepping stone toward developing more passion in our daily teaching.  While I have been learning that change is hard, I believe that these lists, with an emotional connection and clear ways to assess them, may be just the push that we are needing. ;)

What do you think about the points listed above? Do you think they would inspire or develop more passion in teachers? What would you add or remove from the list?

Jessica :)

Video Source: Mobile Learning Institute