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Workplace Values: Seven Activities
Every teacher, every
staff, and every school operates under a set of values.
Each time you consider a question like “What gives me job
satisfaction?” or “What kind of a teacher do I want to be?
Or “What do I feel strongly about?” You are probing values
issues. Successful
teachers and productive staffs develop a set of values that they
believe to be vital to the interpersonal foundation of the workplace.
In essence, you are searching for fundamental answers to the
question, “At work, what do I intrinsically hold dear for myself and
how should I act to secure and maintain it?”
The best teachers and the
most effective schools are values driven.
Objectives
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To clarify your personal workplace values
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To isolate values that drive your school
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To consider values that lie at the core of
professionalism
Activity
One: Reflections
Write a
short answer or response to the following questions and statements.
Your responses will help you begin the philosophical
exploratory process. Note:
You may want to probe these questions with your mentor or a
discussion group.
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Are
your home and work values consistent?
In other words, do you act on the same values at work as
you do at home?
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Is
your view of your values shared by your colleagues?
Do they see in you the same high priority values that you
see in yourself?
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Are
there particular values that seem to permeate your professional
workplace? If yes,
identify them.
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How
has teaching altered your values?
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Define
a “values driven” organization.
What values drive your school?
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List
your work goals. In
other words, what do you want to get out of a teaching career?
Your goals and your values should be synchronized.
Activity Two:
Identifying Values
Check
ten of the workplace values listed below to complete the following
sentence: “As
I think about my career in teaching, ______________ is very
important to me.”
Workplace Values
| Adoration |
Helpfulness |
Relationships |
| Authenticity |
Identity |
Responsibility |
| Authority |
Independence |
Risk |
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Autonomy |
Innovation |
Satisfaction |
| Challenge |
Knowledge |
Security |
| Character growth |
Leadership |
Self-actualization |
| Control |
Loyalty |
Stability |
| Creativity |
Mental stimulation |
Structure |
| Economic stability |
Morality |
Success |
|
Empathy |
Order |
Teamwork |
| Esteem |
Pleasure |
Trust |
| Ethics |
Pride |
Truthfulness |
| Fair-mindedness |
Rationality |
Winning |
| Happiness |
Recognition |
Wisdom |
Activity Three:
Primary Vaules From the
values listed in Activity Two, select five primary values.
Then discuss how each shapes you as a teacher and as an
employee. Complete the
chart below to determine how each translates into your teaching and/or
your behavior in the workplace.
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Value
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Value
Impact
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Example: Risk
Taking
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Innovation
and experimentation characterize my lesson planning.
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Activity Four:
Values Challenge Relate a
workplace story where you confronted a conflict that challenged your
values. How did you
resolve the conflict? How
would you have done things differently?
Activity Five:
Personification Flush out
the following concept: Personify your school by imagining it as a
character in a play. Write
a character analysis, focusing on the values that motivate your
school’s personality. Below
is a sentence to get you started:
“As
__________________ (your made-up name for your school’s character)
enter the stage, it is obvious to all that he/she is driven by…”
Activity Six:
Values Brainstorming
In a small
group of colleagues, brainstorm values that you feel should drive the
workplace. Record your
suggestions on newsprint and then rank them as a group.
Do the following:
- Take
your top seven brainstormed values and list them in the left-hand
column on the Values
Profile Card below.
- Participants
should rank each value (1-5) and record the score in one of the
boxes next to each listed value: 1=low
importance, 2=below average importance, 3=average importance,
4=above average importance, 5=very strong importance.
- Based
on the averages for each value, rank them.
- Using
the Values Profile Card data, draw conclusions about the values
that drive you and your professional colleagues.
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Value |
Individual Rankings |
Average |
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Activity Seven:
Values Profile Card
At the end of each semester, check your Values Profile Card to remind yourself of your personal commitment.
Occasionally, take a reading of the values that drive your school.
Informally ask colleagues what they believe to be the key values of
the organization. Is there a solid match between your personal values
and prevailing school values? If
there is a disconnect, consider how can you work to help remedy the
gap.
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