I’m reading a book called Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara, former General Manager and now Owner of Eleven Madison Park (EMP), a 3 Michelin star restaurant in New York City. Guidara explores the idea of shared ownership in the book.
He talked about how a kitchen runner was one of the most knowledgeable people he knew when it came to coffee. He knew everything about it. An experience being served a mediocre cup of coffee in another restaurant made Guidara lean on the young employee to share his incredible knowledge and take charge of the coffee service at EMP. The coffee service became one of the most sought after in NYC.
My colleague Trevor Bryan once asked what would happen if each educator became an expert in one thing. I believe the answer may be shared ownership. Let’s give educators the opportunity to share their expertise in the areas they are most passionate about. You probably already have a go-to tech person in the building, but who’s your writing expert? Who is the guru of project based learning? Who’s the authority on classroom design? What passion projects can teachers bring to the table?
We need to find a way to let teachers share their expertise. We need to let them share their passion. We need to let them share in the ownership of our schools.
Rich