Can You Ride a Bicycle?

I'm going to venture a guess that all of you reading this have learned to ride a bike. Countless hours and multiple attempts went into learning how to balance your weight, how to shift the handle bars, and how to brace yourself for the fall. And while hopefully we all learned through these failures to persist and keep plugging away, we may not have been aware of the neurological connections we were making.

The phrase 'it's just like riding a bike' took on a new meaning for today after viewing the video below, AND attempting to ride this bike myself.




You can only imagine how trying to ride this bike myself has completely changed my perspective on CHANGE! While I've always been aware that change is easier for some and more difficult for others, I never made the connection in the relationship between your brain and change. As individuals, we have taken years to master our craft or expertise. Yet, some leaders want us to change our thought process or actions over night. What they may not realize is that our brains are wired in such a way that we struggle to understand the change and how this will improve what we are doing.

Where this video really hit home for me is though the interactions I might have with students. We all have the opportunity to work with and mentor learners that have a wide variety of backgrounds.Many learners come with predisposed notions and beliefs about themselves. Whether it be parents, previous teachers, or friends, learners have been 'hard-wired' to navigate life according to these beliefs. As educators, we are not only tasked to teach them content, but also perhaps help them to 're-learn' who they are and what they are capable of.

And what the movie proved to me is that I must be patient in my working with learners. While I may want to move fast and have accepted changes, some learners have some 'un-wiring' to do to learn. My role is to continue to be supportive of them, their efforts, and the growth they are making. Each learner deserves the time they need to grow - after all growth is movement forward no matter how big or small.

I recently started reading 'The Leadership Challenge' by James Kouzes and Barry Posner. Although I'm a mere thirty pages in so far and very inspired to learn more about The Five Practices to Exemplary Leadership - Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable others to Act, and Encourage the Heart. These five practices must shape how we continue to evolve what education is really about. We cannot impact the brain without first impacting the heart.

Each one of us is capable of impacting our learners. Continue to inspire and model the way in what you do and how you interact with your learners. Help them to unlock the potential that exists within themselves. And remember that many already learned how to 'ride their bike!'