Practice 5 - Encouraging the Heart

According to Kouzes & Posner (2017), encouraging the heart means recognizing the individual contributions of others to the community, as well as celebrating the values and victories of the community. From an educational standpoint, this is particularly meaningful regarding the principle of positive reinforcement. Quite simply, if people experience a positive reward, including verbal praise for their excellence, this creates the desire to replicate the praised action. Teaching can often be a very lonely activity, and students do not always recognize excellence in teaching until long after they graduate. It is incumbent upon principals to take an active interest in teachers who are using effective and innovative learning strategies. Sitting in on classes, asking students about what and how they are learning, and showing appreciation for teacher input and knowledge are all ways to recognize and reward good teaching. So can end-of-the-year faculty awards and allowing teachers who do excel greater autonomy and input into the school as a whole.

Students who excel because of good grades, outside academic awards (like science fairs or distinguished achievements), as well as in sports, should likewise be commended. The values of the school are communicated through the types of students it praises. Also, when the school makes progress to achieving particular benchmarks, even if the ideal is not fully achieved, there should be a recognition that it is moving in the right place. School improvement is always a work in progress, never a destination. The concept of encouraging the heart underlines that when people believe progress is an impossibility, they often stop trying. This is true of individual students in the classroom, but also of a community, which may relax standards if the ideals seem unachievable. Good principals celebrate small victories on the path to excellence.

Reference

Kouzes, J. & Posner, B. (2017). The leadership challenge (6th ed.). Hoboken, N: John Wiley and Sons.