School can be an exhausting place. Teachers are balancing
lessons, students, paperwork, meetings, deadlines, and the countless unexpected
things that happen during a school day. Administrators are balancing many of
those same demands while also making decisions that affect an entire school
community.
And yet, it can be surprisingly easy for us to assume the
worst about one another.
Teachers may think, “Whatever the administrators do, they
are going to get it wrong.” Administrators may look at a struggling teacher
and think, “They are just not working hard enough.” Teachers may look at
a student who is disengaged and think, “They are lazy.”
What if, instead, we practiced generous assumptions?
A generous assumption does not mean ignoring problems,
excusing poor decisions, or pretending everything is okay. It simply means
leaving room for the possibility that we don't have the whole story.
Maybe the administrator has information we don't have. Maybe
there are constraints we aren't aware of. Maybe a decision that doesn't make
sense from our perspective makes more sense when we understand everything that
went into it.
That doesn't mean we have to agree. We can question
decisions, advocate for ourselves, and have difficult conversations. But we can
do those things while assuming that the person on the other side is trying to
do their best with the information and circumstances they have.
The same is true for our students.
When a student doesn't complete an assignment, puts their
head down in class, comes to school unprepared, or seems completely
uninterested, it is easy to label that student as lazy. But we don't know what
happened before they walked through the school doors.
Maybe they didn't sleep well. Maybe there are problems at
home. Maybe they are struggling academically and are embarrassed to ask for
help. Maybe they are overwhelmed, anxious, discouraged, or simply having a
terrible day.
We don't have to know exactly what is happening to choose
compassion over judgment.
And this applies to teachers, too.
Sometimes administrators see a teacher who isn't meeting
expectations and quickly attach a label: lazy, unmotivated, resistant, or
unwilling to change. But teachers are people, not robots. Their best effort may
look different from day to day. A teacher who seems disengaged may be
overwhelmed. A teacher who is resistant to a new initiative may be exhausted
from years of initiatives that came and went. A teacher who isn't performing at
their usual level may simply be struggling with something we cannot see.
Accountability still matters. Expectations still matter. But
so does curiosity.
Instead of asking, “What's wrong with them?” perhaps
we can ask, “I wonder what is going on?”
That small shift can change everything.
Generous assumptions also make our schools happier places to
work and learn. When we assume positive intent, we are less likely to become
defensive. We are more willing to listen. We are more likely to ask questions
before making judgments. And when people feel that others are willing to give
them the benefit of the doubt, they are often more willing to extend that same
grace to others.
That doesn't mean everyone agrees.
It means we choose kindness alongside accountability.
We choose curiosity over assumptions.
Perhaps one of the simplest ways we can improve our schools
is to pause before we judge and remind ourselves:
Maybe there is more to the story.
That is the heart of generous assumptions. It doesn't make
us naive. It makes us human.
And if we can give one another a little more grace, a little
more curiosity, and a little more kindness, we might discover that we can
create schools where people feel not only accountable, but understood.
Sometimes, that is exactly what people need to do their
best.
