ASKING WHY

picture: amazon.com

Today's TeachThought Prompt:

If a young person told you they wanted to become a teacher, what would you tell her/him?

Honestly I wouldn't tell him or her anything. Rather I would ask WHY? 

Why do you want to become a teacher? 

As Simon Sinek says  in his Ted Talk:

"Why? How? What? This little idea explains why some organizations and some leaders are able to inspire where others aren't. Let me define the terms really quickly. Every single person, every single organization on the planet knows what they do, 100 percent. Some know how they do it, whether you call it your differentiated value proposition or your proprietary process or your USP. But very, very few people or organizations know why they do what they do. And by "why" I don't mean "to make a profit." That's a result. It's always a result. By "why," I mean: What's your purpose? What's your cause? What's your belief? Why does your organization exist? Why do you get out of bed in the morning? And why should anyone care? Well, as a result, the way we think, the way we act, the way we communicate is from the outside in. It's obvious. We go from the clearest thing to the fuzziest thing. But the inspired leaders and the inspired organizations -- regardless of their size, regardless of their industry -- all think, act and communicate from the inside out."

Truth be told I am not sure how many educators myself included could answer the question that Sinek poses as his definition of WHY. Nevertheless the WHY we do something is important both for us as new and veterans educators and for our students.