She was going to be a research scientist; determined to research the neurological underpinnings of autism spectrum disorder. Her experiences with her brother drove her desire to find answers.  One day, her department in the university was approached by a local school district. A child affected by autism spectrum disorder had aged into the district and they didn’t know how to educate him. They were hoping the behavior analysis department may be able to help. It was then VIctoria Ryan hung up her lab coat and got to work. She did not become a teacher, she became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. She tackled the issues of quality programming for individuals affected by autism spectrum disorder in the public school setting.  Working amongst teams of special educators to move the needle forward and expand access to education in the least restrictive environment for these exceptional children. However, her vision and reliance solely on specific evidenced based interventions and the resulting data was narrow and often became a barrier to moving the entire educational team forward. As Greene (2000) shares a line from the poet Derek Walcott (1978) “to have loved one horizon is insularity, it blindfolds vision, it narrows experience.”  As the years passed, Victoria began to expand her practice into special education, policy, and curriculum instruction to gain a better understanding of multidisciplinary practices. One might think that her drive was for personal gain, but those that knew her work would say that the support for all students was at the heart of each professional decision she made. As these years passed and the population of teachers and students she supported expanded and diversified, she began to shed her past life as just a board certified behavior analyst and began to embrace her new life as an educational leader.

Maxine Greene’s (2000) work regarding the imagining of the future of public schools illustrates the possibility for education to integrate the school and the community through shared actions and dialogue as well as using these and other opportunities to expand our concept of core academics and learning beyond the binds of curriculum books and classroom walls. Education that moves past equipping students to be future workers, and begins to address their ability to navigate, participate and add value to themselves and their community and that it is through their own individual and collective work they will effect change and successes. This concept will involve schools and educators being asked to do more for students and the community with regards to education and support and to challenge their current thinking, practices and policies by bringing in these voices from the community.  It is this author’s professional opinion that Greene’s thoughts in 2000 have been occurring over the last 20 years with both successes and failures at every level. With the greatness of the task for a school to be a community resource for which many hats are worn, comes the need for resilience. As districts open their school doors to the families of students and respond to family and community needs such as food insecurity, gang violence, and small crises like house fires and deaths, we need to identify how to support educators in navigating the added roles and responsibilities in meeting the greater community need through the lens of a student or classroom on top of the demanding requirements and expectations of standards based education. As Augilar (2018) states in The Onward Workbook we must focus on resilience to transform a school because a lack of resilience leads to a higher likelihood of staff instability, which further impacts student success and performance. If we are going to expand education beyond the walls of the classroom and challenge our thinking to effect change at both the individual and community level as Green (2000) imagines, our educators will need to be able to rebound from the physical, cognitive and emotional setbacks they may experience (Augilar, 2018).  Augilar (p. 6) theorizes that improving individual resilience will allow for more energy and resources to impact organizational and systemic conditions. By understanding, learning and having authentic conversations about who we are, the context we are operating under personally and professionally, the behaviors we engage in, and our dispositions, we begin to improve individual resilience. Greene (p.278) concludes that the future of the school requires a space and a community where diverse views can find ways to be expressed, shared experiences and through these “expand the spaces where deepening and expanding conversation can take place and more and more meaning emerges.” And Augilar (p.1) reminds us in a quote by an unknown author “between stimulus and response there is a sace. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”  Growth starts with the individual. Having honest conversations with ourselves strengthens our ability to engage in honest conversation with those around us, and within those conversations we have an opportunity to take actions to effect change at the individual, school and community level.

If I had to parallel my work life to a song right now I would probably choose Alanis Morissette, Isn’t it Ironic….

Well, life has a funny way

Of sneaking up on you

When you think everything's okay

And everything's going right

And life has a funny way

Of helping you out

When you think everything's gone wrong

And everything blows up in your face

A traffic jam when you're already late

A "no smoking" sign on your cigarette break

It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife

It's meeting the man of my dreams

And then meeting his beautiful wife

And isn't it ironic, don't you think?

A little too ironic, and yeah I really do think

It's like rain on your wedding day

It's a free ride when you've already paid

It's the good advice that you just didn't take

And who would've thought?

In this comparison, I am the main character.  Other characters are my family and those I work with.  The ironic theme is how my worlds (family and life) have intertwined.  I began my career 28 years ago, working with students with disabilities.  Fast forward many years, to when I have my own children.  What I have learned through my career has assisted me with helping them through the last several years.  My yearning to help my family members who struggle with mental health has led me to this course work as well.  I have met so many wonderful clinicians and mental health providers through work that I have brought into my family's lives to create a circle of support that is so strong for my daughter.  It’s ironic, but not in a bad way, as the song might lead you to think.  It’s ironic that the world brought her to me and I had the tools to help her.

2. Describe the importance of having something to pursue (p. 272) Using a narrative voice in your answer, tell the story of how you became a teacher.  What was your “vision” going into the field? What was your initial calling?

When I realized I wanted to pursue education as a career path I was in high school.  I was sitting after school with my Algebra 2 teacher who often stayed after with me.  She knew I had weaknesses in the area of math and she offered her time freely.  During this time she asked about my family, the sports I was participating in and she shared stories about her family.   It was natural and actually enjoyable.  She showed genuine care for me and I felt trust.  I wanted to do well as a result.  I began to think of how she inspired me and how I wanted to share that inspiration with others.   I knew special education was the direction as well in the summer of my Senior year following graduation.  I worked at Ripton School for their Extended School Year Program.  I was immediately drawn to the classroom and the students. The faculty was like a family.  It felt like home.  Following graduation, I taught at Ripton School for 10 years before it was closed.  That feeling of “home and community” still lingers in my heart.  I have wonderful memories.   

3. I could see Greene’s ideas connect with Aguilar’s introduction to “Cultivating Emotional Resilience” in the following manner: 

Greene talked about teachers investing thought and energy to invent situations for themselves and their students where all come together and feel a joint responsibility to assure a humane and connected environment.  Aguilar noted that we can also control resilience through our thought between stimulus and response.  I think both point out that there is control in outcome based on our reactions and responses.