It isn't a personal challenge. Listening to our inner voice is. It requires not just time, but courage and commitment too. Having the courage and commitment to reflect means putting other things aside to do it. And how often do we turn away from the discomforting voice inside us that says we may not be serving all our students as well as we might, that we might be challenging the more able while giving the less able a blander diet of basic skills, or that we might be involving and questioning the boys in class more than the girls, or vice-versa.
Teachers have strong values about doing work that makes a difference.
Because of overload and the rush of daily events, we often neglect our basic values. Guideline 1 suggests that we must ask and remind ourselves what values and goals are most important, what frustrates us most, and what we stand for. Locating and articulating our inner voice provide great sources of clarity and energy for transcending overload. The morality and practicality of improvement require that teachers locate this inner voice, that they listen to it seriously, and that they articulate it so as to make its power felt among their colleagues. We hope it is clear in all our guidelines that we are not recommending that teachers become introspective hermits.