Intentions in Action: A New School Year

I've always loved a new school year. Some reserve their resolutions to be a better person for January but that has always seemed like a fool's errand to me. Who wants to start fresh in the middle of a cold, dark winter? For me, the new school year means sharpened pencil crayons, a pristine notebook full of promise, and a fresh resolve to be better (in some way or other) than I was the year before. As student or as a teacher a new school year is an opportunity to start fresh, to continue growing in the direction of the person we long to be.

For conscious educators a new school year is the perfect time to set an intention. In higher education we use student learning outcomes: the goals we set for what a student should know or be able to do by the end of a class or a course or program. Based on those intentions we choose our learning and teaching activities and design our assessments to test students’ progress toward those goals and redesign our teaching to help them.

Intentions go beyond learning outcomes though. Student learning outcomes usually focus on academic skills, knowledge, and/or experiences that can be measured. But as we educators know, our intentions often lie well beyond what is listed on the course outline of record.

For example, I want to empower my students to respond to their lives in a way that is in line with their values motivations and intentions. That is not written anywhere on the course outline of record or in the syllabus for my classes. But because that is my intention I make choices in the way that I respond to students that might be different from my colleagues who have other conscious or unconscious intentions. Because I want to empower my students I tend not to give direct answers to most of their questions; instead, I empower them to find the answers to their questions themselves. I act like a coach asking more questions to help them find the answers in future instances, without the need to rely on me. On the other hand, a colleague who had the intention of creating safety for their students might be inclined to provide more direct answers in order to help students feel seen heard, and safe.

What's important to know about intentions is that they will always be met; the other important thing to note is that the way they get met may surprise you. In my experience, when I set an intention for a class or my personal life or a season of life or a semester the intention almost always is met. However, the path or the process almost never looks the way I could have imagined. Intentions require a little bit of faith: they require attention to what we are trying to achieve and they require an open mindedness about how we get there.

At the start of this school year I invite you to set one or two clear, simple intentions about how you want to show up for yourself and your students. You might intend, for example, to be calm. Or you might intend to be a little bit more dynamic and passionate. Or you might intend to have stronger boundaries. Or you might intend to give more useful feedback. Only you will know which intention is right for you. And if you surrender to the mystery, you will find that your intention will be met in a way that might be quite surprising.

Here are some questions for you to consider as you set intentions:

• What did you like about the way last year felt or went? Is there an intention that will help you get more of that outcome?

• What did you not like about last year or previous school years? What intention would help you feel better or have a different outcome?

• What are your values and motivations? What intentions align with those?

P.S. My intentions for 2023/24 are contentment and service.

I'm glad you read this today. Let me know if you would like to talk more about implementing these ideas.

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