PLC things all First Thing as Driving Forces in a PLC

Compassion and Service

Jack Baldermann

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SOLUTION TREE: CEO

Jeffrey C. Jones

PRESIDENT

Themost important thing we can teach our students is to be compassionate people who give service to others. What does this have to do with professional learning community work? Everything.

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Edmund M. Ackerman

SOLUTION TREE PRESS: PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER

Douglas M. Rife

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ART DIRECTOR

Rian Anderson

PAGE DESIGNERS

Laura Cox, Abigail Bowen, Kelsey Hergül, Fabiana Cochran, Julie Csizmadia, Rian Anderson

Making a commitment in our work to compassion and service is not only the right thing to do, but I am also con dent that peak performance in a PLC can only be obtained if this commitment is central to the work and is an explicit focus in all we do. For students and teachers to fully engage in their work, they must believe that what they are doing has great purpose and is noble. If you want exceptional results, start by centering the work in compassion and service to others.

When we are a cohesive and compassionate team deeply committed to respecting and serving others, there will be no stopping us on our path to great achievement. ere are opportunities every day to make decisions rooted in compassion. It is in the everyday interactions that we build and sustain a culture of compassion that leads to people becoming more dedicated to each other, the mission, and the work. We dig a little deeper, persevere longer, are more open to being vulnerable and supportive, and commit to follow-through in a more concentrated way.

AllThingsPLC (ISSN 2476-2571 [print], 2476-258X [Online]) is published four times a year by Solution Tree Press.

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Dr. Helen Riess (2018), an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and director of Empathy and Relational Science at Massachusetts General Hospital, states: “Consciously or not, we are in constant, neural resonance with one another’s feelings. When we are engaged in shared mind awareness, the possibilities for mutual aid and collaborative problem solving abound” (p. 30). Clearly the connection between compassion and e ective collaboration is being made, and the team that is more connected is better able to create solutions and foster growth. Is this not at the heart of PLC work?

Dr. Riess (2018) also argues that one of the byproducts of compassion is that “helping others . . . also inspires others to help in return. Helping others feels good. is is considered the basis for collaboration, cooperation, and reciprocity in human relationships” (p. 18).