As a former coach, Mik Love likes to say he’d have his team practice “not until they got things right but until they couldn’t get it wrong.” And as a coach, he had the freedom to make this happen. He could evaluate his players, figure out what skills needed work, and then design specific drills and practices to help them improve in those areas. As an educational advocate, he would like to see this same level of autonomy and ownership for teachers. Mik is the host of our new video series exploring topics that connect the classroom and the real world. The first episode of the series, Teacher’s Lounge – Ownership and Engagement, is available now.
Mik recently interviewed Dr. Kaye Monk-Morgan of the Kansas Leadership Center who defines ownership as the “opportunity to see and seize moments to make a difference, to intervene, to make a change” and points out that when people have the chance to take action they know will make a difference, amazing things can happen.
Studies have shown that when teachers are able to make these choices, when they have autonomy or ownership in the classroom, both their job satisfaction and motivation increase. Educational researcher Andreas Schleicher has also found connections between increased autonomy and student success.
Christy Pray, Regional Manager of JAG-K (Jobs for America’s Graduates-Kansas), recently shared how this played out in her own classroom. She had a student who really wanted to be an auto mechanic, but the high school did not have a class. Some students did travel to a different campus to take courses, but this student did not have a vehicle. For most people, this would be the end of the story. But Christy had the freedom to challenge him to take ownership of the problem and make it his project: bring the class to their high school.
With her guidance, the student leaned into his passion, researching and developing a plan. He put together a proposal and prepared a PowerPoint to share his vision. Then Christy helped him reach out to business community leaders, like auto dealers and construction companies that wanted mechanics on staff. His presentation was so moving that he not only secured an internship at a local dealership, but the school is exploring ways to bring auto mechanic courses on campus.
We know not all teachers have the level of freedom that Christy had to bring this project to life. In Elizabeth Huebeck’s article “Teacher Autonomy Isn’t Dead. Here’s How to Achieve It“, she spoke with Michael Ida, the 2023 Hawaii State Teacher of the Year. He points out “We control the passion with which we deliver our lessons. We control the ways we establish relationships with students and how we nurture our classroom cultures. We control the questions that we ask, the ways that we structure collaboration and discourse, and the ways that we choose to honor or ignore the student voice.”
This mirrors Mik’s challenge to educators. Lean into your passion, build your culture and take ownership where you can. The results can be amazing.
Watch “Teacher’s Lounge – Ownership and Engagement”
You can watch both parts of Mik discussing Ownership and Engagement with Kaye and Christy on our YouTube channel:
Share Your Thoughts on “Teacher’s Lounge – Ownership and Engagement”
After you’ve watched our videos, share your thoughts including how you take ownership in your classroom and interact with 15,000+ innovative teachers on Empowered Hub (click here to create your free account).
