Culture, Cliches, and Conversations

Relationships are everything in successful systems, and connections are cultivated by our actions and our words. Within our words, we contain the power to build relationships or bury them. Those who look for opportunities to converse on significant issues sustain and prosper. However, often times these conversations are cut short by our inability to discover the hidden meanings behind our chosen responses. In today's school systems, educational cliches are ending essential dialogue when they should begin and maintain it. Messages like "e;That's why you make the big bucks"e; or "e;It is what it is"e; hinder our capacity to construct critical connections with each other. The focus of Cliches, Conversations and Culture: Cultivating Relations Between Teachers and Administrators is to unveil these cliches and explore alternatives that will foster connectedness. By improving our dialogue, we will be able to nurture a more viable culture for our building and bridge the gap that historically exists between administrators and teachers.