My #oneword for 2019 is courage. With the current political climate in Ontario and some of the challenges facing us a global community, I feel that we will need to demonstrate courage as a moving forward in 2019. The inspiration for my one word this year, comes from having just finished Brené Brown’s book on Dare to Lead.
One of the quotes that really resonated with me was: “Integrity is choosing courage over comfort; it’s choosing what is right over what’s fun, fast or easy; and it’s practising your values; not just professing them.” Brown’s quotation speaks to me because the year ahead will no doubt prove to be challenging and having the courage to respond in courageous ways is what is needed. For myself, this means having the courage to stay in tough conversations, asking questions and being curious, and as Brown suggests in her book leaning into that curiosity to try to learn about the other person’s perspective. Brown goes onto describe tough conversation in her book and adds “To opt out of conversations about privilege and oppression because they make you uncomfortable is the epitome of privilege.” I feel this is also critical in having real and authentic conversations in education in 2019 around equity and privilege. It means as Brown describes showing up for people in pain and not looking away and choosing to be vulnerable at times.