If we changed our view, and see the student as a potential to grow in both side of heart and mind, we woud be able to bring our intelligent heart in class, and therefore touch the students' intelligent heart.
we have many of them. I think it means both teaching and caring.
Our school has a very intelligent heart. The faculty and staff truly care for the students
Our school is much different than most schools.
Three out of our four office and administrative staff started out as students. They were so impressed by the way our school is they didn't want to leave. Everyone on our staff is very passionate about their jobs. We are small and keep the classes small. We want to know our students and help them on their career paths. My perception of an intelligent heart is turning eveything into a positive experience. This can be done in many ways. It can start with a smile when the students come in the door and having fresh coffee to start the day. A lot of students have uprooted their lives to come to school and we need to be aware of all the changes they made to choose our school over any others and help them adapt.
Christina,
Your school must be a great place for students. The little things your team does to establish a positive climate work together to position your students for big things. Help your team to intentionally continue to do those little things and to look for more little things to do for your students.
We start out in our jobs with an Intelligent Heart and it is seeing the student thrive and grow that keeps that heart beating strong.
My university’s culture is very diverse and student focused. Most of the employees support the mission and the vision of the institution. All of the departments are forced on student retention as a whole with only a small number of people with negative attitudes. I would say the 95% of the staff and faculty are actively modeling, coaching, mentoring and monitoring to our students. I also think that almost everyone is using an intelligent heart when they interact with students and fellow staff members. Our campus has had many workshops that explore internal and external customer service which has improved the campus culture. The intelligent heart in my opinion is the idea of using your intellect to increase your emotional intelligence.
Our school culture is a mixture of intelligent hearts and not so intelligent ones. We actively work to place the right person in the right job and surround each other with positive energy. By doing so, the climate of the origanization changes for the better.
The college has a reputation for "Intelligent Hearts." Many of the students comment how they left other community colleges/career colleges to enroll because of the strong mentoring, and overall support system from departments and faculty which is central to our organizatonal philosophy. Via faculty/staff development meetings, reminders via email, newsletters, and personal contact, there is continual support to increase effective communication with our students to empower and mentor them. Because our college has such strong mentoring and role-modeling from the top on down for administration, faculty, staff and the organization as a whole, it creates a culture where "Intelligent Hearts" is the foundation for all department performance within education toward all students; there's always an awareness that the "Intelligent Heart" concept is more than just "some goal" we strive toward.
I completely agree, and feel our school is the same. Due to the fact that we have had alot of modifications in our administrative team, alot of people in our staff were used to not going beyond what they thought was "ethical". The best way to avoid this, was to not interact or speak with any of the students beyond "hello". Unfortunately, this has taken a toll on our communication, however, we are learning and building a stronger foundation. Now that we have a vision for our teams and departments, everyone will work hard to reach that goal.
Good points, Natalie.
Turnover can really impact the way a staff interacts with and thinks about students. The most successful career colleges have a structured method of delivering the "intelligent heart" message to new employees and refreshing that message for current employees.
Good luck and keep on changing lives with your intelligent heart.
We are very blessed in our organization to have a number of staff with Intelligent Hearts and outstanding communication skills. Our Executive Director is highly trained in nonviolent communication, and beyond that is truly skilled in understanding the motivations and desires behind the public face of students and staff alike. She has been instrumental in changing the approach of students and staff by modeling the Intelligent Heart.
Kaitlin,
It is great to hear that your campus is blessed with a good leader who can model and mentor.
I would like to think that all instructors care about the student body in general. Can we improve on Intelligent Hearts?
Jeffrey,
In my experience, not all teachers demonstrate an intelligent heart. When I taught high school, I was pretty convinced that some of my peers became teachers because they did not like kids.
When nearly everyone on the staff is positive and demonstrates an intelligent heart, those without one may develop one, or they may find that the positive, student-centered environment is not one in which they want to continue to work in. Either way, the students win.
I look forward to communicating with you in other discussion forums in this course.
We have many employee's who find the time to outreach our students to help them overcome personal concerns which in turn keeps them in school. We set guidelines and follow thru with enforcing them and explaining the importance of the rules. My perception of an intelligent heart is having compassion and understanding when handling the students and educating them about life through life experiences, not just technical education.
John,
You mention something very important in this post. It is okay to have rules, but the rules have to be understood by the students and exist for the benefit of the students. Too often, teachers establish policies that really only benefit the teacher. Policies that are overly strict or inflexible do not serve our students well as those policies make it more difficult for students to balance their life and school responsibilities.
Showing compassion and understanding is indeed the sign of an intelligent heart. Your students are fortunate to have many employees with this trait.
Our school is made up of mostly intelligent hearts but we do have a few negative people who can bring you down sometimes. My perception of an intelligent heart is a compassionate person who cares about other people and their problems and concerns and someone who has common sense that takes the time to listen when people need it.
Gary,
This is a good definition of an "intelligent heart." Thanks for sharing it.
What do you thing can or should be done to mitigate the impact of the few negative folks you work with?
Make sure they know the mission of our company and communicate to them that they are bringing fellow employees and students down and if that doesn't work, help them decide if this is where they should be working or not.
GW
