Generous assumptions

 

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.