First off, I suggest you take a look at the original post. It can be found here http://bit.ly/atiwWg
I am in the middle of writing a post about school parent groups such as PTA, PTO, PTSA and PTCO groups. These school volunteers give tirelessly to support the needs of students. So, I laughed out loud when I saw the 'It's for the Kids' post.
It's a great post - more of a tirade as author Rick Hess puts it, but read on and you will see why I responded to it by writing this post.
My take-away from the article is that it's important to separate the overall motives for being involved with something and really focus on the task at hand. This is clearly a problem for many people across many groups and professions. The 'noble cause' is mentioned out of context. It is thrown out there when there is trouble clealy separating business decisions from emotionally driven ones.
I imagined right away an overly cluttered classroom and a teacher defending that each and every item in the classroom was a valuable teaching tool. In reality, a cluttered space gives the feeling of being encroached upon, trapped. In the end, too many relatively meaningless items means takes away focus on important ones. The benefit to the whole outweighs the teachers belief that the needs of the students in each of the small areas is paramount.
Back to the point. In my writing, I mention that parent group volunteers have lives outside of school and give their time and effort in order to speak on behalf of kids that won't speak up on their own. Basically, they are doing it for the kids. They have needs and the school has needs. Parent groups are now responsible for all the 'extras' children get throughout the school year. Without them, it's just the three r's. Much of our hope for a balanced education rests on their shoulders.
Although I haven't posted the story, I thought it was just flat out cheesy to type that volunteers give their time 'for the kids' and I struggled with that for quite some time - long enough to wonder if I should post the story which in the end, I didn't. I just felt it was wrong to presume I know their motives for volunteering.
After reading 'It's for the Kids' Needs to Go, I realized that Rick Hess is a much smarter individual than myself when it comes to matters of intelligent writing. Hopefully here I offer mere simple explanation I believe focuses our attention on what is important.
We all have motives. We want to support something we care about and we want to succeed at something that matters to us. So, to hijack Rick's analogy, I agree that our doctors don't have to love us but I interject that they have to believe in a 'noble cause' in order to succeed. I look forward to the follow up tomorrow but for now, here are my closing thoughts:
I believe that school volunteers should be encouraged to think they are giving their time because of the kids. I believe they need a 'noble cause' and no harm is done by having one. I imagine a parent deciding to be involved with a busy PTA or PTO I think they should believe they can make a difference for the kids first, themselves second. If they don't feel helping kids is noble they should find another area of interest to be involved with. I know plenty of 20 somethings that don't want to be on the PTA but they feel that repairing cars for instance is incredibly noble. I have to respect that.
But there is some truth to the motives of Rick's post. Do we wholehartedly believe folks that tell us there motive is to help the kids? It's just human nature to put a mission first then a bunch of other important things second. A preacher doesn't spend 24 hours a day in prayer - they have a job to do just like anyone else. A job that is driven by successes and failures. A job that is defined by giving their lives to god and then a bunch of work and relationships, conversations, decisions, successes and failures that further define them. A 'noble cause' is one thing. The rest of the job is the rest of the job and in so is my agreement with Rick.
Back to education and parent voluneers. A parent volunteer has to believe that they can make a difference in an area that matters to them. What matters is providing for the children. What matters is parents being challenged and succeeding. what matters is being a part of something. What matters is being a part of a group - a winning team.
Question... Without a 'noble cause' do you think it's possible to truly immerse yourself in an area or work or focus and truly succeed?
Hopefully one of these days I will revisit the abandoned article but for now, I will focus on work for work sake and leave the 'noble cause' in the back of my mind comfortable knowing I am doing what I am doing for the right reasons - my reasons.
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Action areas - can you define your 'noble causes'? Do you effectively separate your daily duties into individual work successes and failures and not make decisions based solely on your 'noble cause'?
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Jay Moneta is the vice president of Believe Kids Fundraising and can be reached via comments on this blog or at twitter - twitter.com/BelieveKids If you enjoyed this post or have comments or suggestions, please feel free. All feedback on this writing is encouraged! Thanks for looking!!
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