Anchor Competency Framework Focus: Developing the Lens

The Center for Teaching & Reaching the Whole Child’s Anchor Competency Framework is designed to develop the social, emotional, and cultural lens or mindset of educators through an iterative process that involves:

• Exploring assumptions and beliefs
• Modeling 
• Providing Practice
• Reflecting

In this newsletter, we focus on the ways in which exploring our own assumptions and beliefs is foundational to developing trusting relationships – the Anchor Competency Framework’s ‘super’ anchor competency. In our upcoming webinar, “RESPONDING CONSTRUCTIVELY ACROSS DIFFERENCES: TOOLS FOR NAVIGATING CHALLENGING CONVERSATIONS”, we will discuss the importance of creating safe and brave spaces that nurture open and respectful dialogue. This is not easy work, but it is ‘doable’ and necessary work. We cannot ‘hear’ others unless we can recognize our ‘own barriers’ to the consideration of other viewpoints without assigning judgment. 

A colleague recently shared an experience with us:

“I often feel overwhelmed by all of the ‘noise’ around me. It feels as if everyone has an opinion about everything. I have grown to realize that I used to think that most people thought the way I do about things, but that is definitely not true. I can clearly recognize the assumptions and the biases I often make about others. I consider myself a fair and ‘open’ individual, but I still have work to do.”

It is part of the human experience to draw conclusions about ourselves and others. It is through intentional self-reflection that we can begin to identify our own assumptions and how those beliefs can impact our educational perceptions and practices. Our colleague shared another aspect of her story:

“I have been a teacher in both higher social-economic and lower socio-economic school settings. Back to School night was always an important event at all schools. We often had low parent attendance at the lower socio-economic schools. In contrast, we had very high parent attendance at the higher socio-economic schools. I can remember clearly believing the false narrative that parents who care about their students make attending Back to School night a priority. This is an example of allowing bias to impact judgment and actions. When we, as a school community, worked closely with parents and listened to their suggestions for the best day and time for school events, parent engagement increased tremendously in all settings.”

Developing the social, emotional, and cultural lens is dependent on the integration of the social, emotional, and cultural goals and context. 

We invite you to consider the following:

• Research tells us teacher efficacy is an outcome of the beliefs and mindsets one holds about one’s self as a teacher, one’s students, and the families that one engages with. What tools and strategies do you find helpful in guiding your growth mindset and other adaptive mindsets regarding yourself and others?

• As educators, we can model self-compassion for ourselves and others. How do you nurture your inner dialogue and offer kindness to yourself to support your continual growth to bring your best self to others? 

We hope that you can join us for our upcoming webinar. We will continue to explore the impact of assumptions and beliefs as pivotal considerations for fostering productive conversations and trusting relationships.

In ‘Joy’ for the ‘Work’….

The CRTWC Team