CAVU Conditions for Growth

CAVU CONDITIONS

11/5/2017

My husband and I just went on a hot air balloon ride for our 20th anniversary. We watched the sun come up over the mountains in Arizona. The fact that I could check this off my bucket list was great but that fact that my husband was willing to do this when he is afraid of heights? Priceless. As I found myself talking with Mike about the impending ride to calm his fears, it reminded me how important listening and being there is. Mike was scared. He said he never thought he would see the day he would be going up in a hot air balloon. But he was. We had a conversation. I accepted that he was scared of heights and acknowledged that the idea of going up high in a hot air balloon was going to be really scary for him. But he trusted me so he could be vulnerable and not let fear stop him. I understood and I showed empathy.

'CAVU' is an aeronautical meteorology term which means "Ceiling And Visibility Unlimited". The term is used to help articulate the best flying conditions. Best conditions for flying include a ceiling of at least 10,000 feet and a visibility of at least 10 miles.

In the work I do as an instructional technology specialist, I wonder how I can best set the conditions so teachers and students can take off and reach new heights and go where they have never gone. What conditions allow for teachers to see 10 miles forward? What conditions allow teachers to reach 10,000 feet and beyond? Taking the term and applying it to education and specifically to my role I came up with what I believe those conditions are. To me CAVU means,

Conversations, Acceptance, Vulnerability, and Understanding

We have all heard it before, relationships matter. The fact is they do not just matter they are essential to anything we do as educators if we want to grow. We need to be in conversations with each other. In order for teachers to go where they have never gone before there has to be a level of trust built. How do we build trust? We show up; in person. We listen; more than we speak. We meet people where they are at. And then we take off. Together. Coaching is not about showing someone how to do something. It is about helping others see for themselves how to reach new heights. Then, supporting them as they get there so they can soar.

In the process of building those relationships, we need to remember to have acceptance. We need to model acceptance. We need to acknowledge that taking risks will include failure. We need to model that we will accept failure and learn from it. We need to tell people they will not be judged or evaluated on that failure but instead we will help them use the presumed failure as a growth opportunity. And through it all we will then help them rise to new heights and soar.

Vulnerability is essential for growth. Growing is a process and, truthfully, it can be painful at times and joyful at times. We have to allow for space for people to be vulnerable. We need to provide a safe zone. In that safe zone we can have those conversations that include us being able to say, "Well that lesson didn't work." And when we hear those words we say, "Let's talk about that. Tell me more". And then we can reach new heights and soar.

Woven in every relationship there has to be a level of understanding. Understanding allows us to have empathy. Empathy allows us to meet people where they are at. It allows us to have perspective. With perspective comes understanding. It allows us to say, "I know you are frustrated. Let's talk about where you would like to make changes to the lesson and try again". Understanding allows us to be part of the solution so we can reach new heights and soar.

As we got in the hot air balloon to take off the pilot said, "I'm never sure where the balloon is going to go, but I am sure there will be a landing". My hope is that those that I have the privilege of working with this coming school year see that I have set the CAVU conditions so we can reach new heights and soar, and then land safely, in a new place... Together.