Page 22 - ELG2503 March Issue 493

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SPECIAL FEATURE

The value of values

When looking for a place to work, how do you know if you’re right for

the school, or if the school is right for you? Peartree’s Jon Letson explains…

irst, an activity. practices. We’ll also see an example of how organisations that share your priorities,
A little suspicious of articles that taking the time to find and form a value- everything flows better. There’s less friction,
start with activities? Stick with me. aligned collaboration can pay big, real-world more trust, better morale, and a lot more
F Write this heading: ‘My Five Values’. dividends. Finally, we’ll expand our lead-in fun. In an intense, inevitably stressful
Give yourself five minutes to write down five activity into a practical way to help teachers environment like a summer school, that’s
things you believe in that shape how you live, have a more satisfying summer school literally invaluable.
and how you work. experience. From the micro to the macro, the pattern
Don’t worry if you found filtering what holds. If an education provider is able to pour
makes you tick into five statements in five Why your values matter time and effort into reflecting on and creating
minutes impossible! That’s the point. I’m not going to dip so much as a toe into a statement of values, they can also use
Understanding our own values and finding the realm of the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’. That’s that as a divining rod to seek out ‘the one’:
ways to express them takes patience, real inherently treacherous territory. What a value-aligned partner among the many
reflection, and time. But it’s worth it. In a I’m suggesting here is that understanding organisations they could work with.
volatile world it can be the line between a your own social, ethical and even political
journey of personal and professional growth outlook(s), and expressing how they shape Peartree Languages and UWC Atlantic
and a dead end. your real-world actions and decisions, is vital. Experience
I want to look at why clear values are not Why? It’s a key to searching out others Here’s a case in point.
just nice-to-haves but a custom tool you who share your worldview, not just stumbling Peartree Languages is a language training
can wield to identify working partners who around the shadowy world of recruitment and consultancy provider celebrating its
are on the same page when it comes to the hoping you’ll bump into each other. Think 20th anniversary year in 2025. And, with
non-negotiables and the principles behind the about it: when you work with people or the 2024 British Council inspection of our
22 March 2025