INTRODUCTION
The idea in brief:
(1) Decision-making is an essential, but rarely appreciated, skill in education.
(2) Educators can be both happier and more effective with enhanced decision-making skills.
(3) Six components of decision-making educators can develop are: analytical decision-making, bias, intuition, group decision-making, ethical decision-making, and emotional decision-making.
Teaching is a remarkably challenging profession. Some of what makes teaching hard is obvious and well-publicized: large class sizes, limited resources, and increasing pressure from parents, administrators, and lawmakers. But there's a secret culprit that makes teaching hard, and it's shockingly under-reported. In fact, it's so elusive that many educators have been unable to articulate it themselves. That culprit is the sheer amount of complexity of decisions that teachers make every single day.
As an educator, you are making decisions all 👏 the 👏 time 👏
There are the big decisions - like selecting a curriculum or if you're asked to serve on the hiring committee for a principal. But there are also a myriad of smaller decisions you face without even thinking about it - like which student to call on or how to respond if a student makes a minor infraction. And all of those decisions are taxing.
Let's consider a mundane example: If a student asks you if they can use the restroom, a flood of questions is likely to rush through your head. What is my bathroom policy? Did he raise his hand? Where did I put my bathroom pass? Does he really need to use the restroom? How close are we to the next bathroom break? What will he miss if I let him go? Will he leave his partner behind? How can I get them caught up? If I don't let the student use the restroom and his parent finds out, will the dad be mad at me? If I do let the student use the restroom and my administrator finds out, will she be mad at me? Do I feel like taking the heat?
Meanwhile, this entire inner dialogue takes place over the course of mere seconds, all while you are simultaneously thinking of the other 25 students in your class and also conducting the business of education.
Teachers and other educators are making decisions like this and many others constantly, yet we provide essentially no training or support in them doing so. It is not uncommon for decision-making development to be embedded in business schools, law schools, and medical schools, as well as in the training of engineers, law-enforcement officers, flight attendants, and even clergy. But for educators, such training is essentially non-existent.
That is a big shame, because becoming stronger in decision-making skills can lead us to become both more effective and also happier at the same time.
There are six components to quality decision-making.
(1) Most of us don't spend much time at all thinking about decision-making. If we do think of decision-making, most of us think of analytical decision-making. For example, creating pro / con lists is a form of analytical decision-making. (by the way, it's a pretty terrible way to make decisions, but that's another story). Analytical decision-making is when you consciously think out what choice you should make. It's important, and one I'll discuss frequently. But it should be highlighted that it is just one of the six essential components to quality decision-making.
(2) Another component to quality decision-making is considering bias. This component is extremely popular in decision-making research, and it is crucially important, but it isn't thought of often by everyday people. What do I mean by "bias?" To the general public, "bias" is often used regarding lines of difference such as race, ethnicity, or gender. If someone expresses negative stereotypes of a particular race, for example, they are often called "biased." That form of bias is particularly troublesome, and those types of prejudicial mindsets should be examined closely. But in decision-making research, "bias" is used much more broadly. I use the word "bias" here as a catch-all term for all the ways in which our brains short-wire in negative ways, especially subconscious ways. You're likely familiar with the confirmation bias, for example. Another important one is the negativity bias. Biases like the confirmation bias, the negativity bias, and countless others are affecting the decisions we make daily, including the decisions we are not even fully aware we are making. These biases exist for evolutionary reasons, and - when in check - allow us to function without over-analyzing every single thing we do. But, in our modern world they can often get overzealous, and they can certainly work against us. So, decision-making researchers spend a lot of time analyzing how to reduce bias.
(3) A third component of decision-making is intuition. Some believe you can just "trust your gut," and that's partially true. As a general decision-making process, it's a generally lousy approach to bet on. But there are grains of truth to intuition, and it's worth teasing out when it can be beneficial and when it is not. At its best, I like to think of intuition as the opposite of bias. Bias is when our brains short-wire; when they lead us astray without us even realizing it. With intuition, we get sudden bursts of insights. Rather than tripping us up, these insights are often incredibly beneficial. Like bias, it is often happening at a subconscious level that we aren't fully aware of. But unlike bias, instead of being subconsciously bad, they are subconsciously good. So just like we should explore how to reduce bias, we should be exploring how we can enhance intuition (at least the good intuition).
The final three components of decision-making are a bit more straight-forward:
(4) Group decision-making = When teams of people are making choices together.
(5) Ethical decision-making = As we factor in morality into the choices we make.
(6) Emotional decision-making = When we appreciate our choices as more than just cold, rational calculations, and we instead recognize the ways our feelings impact the choices we make, for better or for worse.
If we consider decision-making holistically, it can do a lot to ensure we are both more effective and also happier.
(1) Decision-making is an essential, but rarely appreciated, skill in education.
(2) Educators can be both happier and more effective with enhanced decision-making skills.
(3) Six components of decision-making educators can develop are: analytical decision-making, bias, intuition, group decision-making, ethical decision-making, and emotional decision-making.
Teaching is a remarkably challenging profession. Some of what makes teaching hard is obvious and well-publicized: large class sizes, limited resources, and increasing pressure from parents, administrators, and lawmakers. But there's a secret culprit that makes teaching hard, and it's shockingly under-reported. In fact, it's so elusive that many educators have been unable to articulate it themselves. That culprit is the sheer amount of complexity of decisions that teachers make every single day.
As an educator, you are making decisions all 👏 the 👏 time 👏
There are the big decisions - like selecting a curriculum or if you're asked to serve on the hiring committee for a principal. But there are also a myriad of smaller decisions you face without even thinking about it - like which student to call on or how to respond if a student makes a minor infraction. And all of those decisions are taxing.
Let's consider a mundane example: If a student asks you if they can use the restroom, a flood of questions is likely to rush through your head. What is my bathroom policy? Did he raise his hand? Where did I put my bathroom pass? Does he really need to use the restroom? How close are we to the next bathroom break? What will he miss if I let him go? Will he leave his partner behind? How can I get them caught up? If I don't let the student use the restroom and his parent finds out, will the dad be mad at me? If I do let the student use the restroom and my administrator finds out, will she be mad at me? Do I feel like taking the heat?
Meanwhile, this entire inner dialogue takes place over the course of mere seconds, all while you are simultaneously thinking of the other 25 students in your class and also conducting the business of education.
Teachers and other educators are making decisions like this and many others constantly, yet we provide essentially no training or support in them doing so. It is not uncommon for decision-making development to be embedded in business schools, law schools, and medical schools, as well as in the training of engineers, law-enforcement officers, flight attendants, and even clergy. But for educators, such training is essentially non-existent.
That is a big shame, because becoming stronger in decision-making skills can lead us to become both more effective and also happier at the same time.
There are six components to quality decision-making.
(1) Most of us don't spend much time at all thinking about decision-making. If we do think of decision-making, most of us think of analytical decision-making. For example, creating pro / con lists is a form of analytical decision-making. (by the way, it's a pretty terrible way to make decisions, but that's another story). Analytical decision-making is when you consciously think out what choice you should make. It's important, and one I'll discuss frequently. But it should be highlighted that it is just one of the six essential components to quality decision-making.
(2) Another component to quality decision-making is considering bias. This component is extremely popular in decision-making research, and it is crucially important, but it isn't thought of often by everyday people. What do I mean by "bias?" To the general public, "bias" is often used regarding lines of difference such as race, ethnicity, or gender. If someone expresses negative stereotypes of a particular race, for example, they are often called "biased." That form of bias is particularly troublesome, and those types of prejudicial mindsets should be examined closely. But in decision-making research, "bias" is used much more broadly. I use the word "bias" here as a catch-all term for all the ways in which our brains short-wire in negative ways, especially subconscious ways. You're likely familiar with the confirmation bias, for example. Another important one is the negativity bias. Biases like the confirmation bias, the negativity bias, and countless others are affecting the decisions we make daily, including the decisions we are not even fully aware we are making. These biases exist for evolutionary reasons, and - when in check - allow us to function without over-analyzing every single thing we do. But, in our modern world they can often get overzealous, and they can certainly work against us. So, decision-making researchers spend a lot of time analyzing how to reduce bias.
(3) A third component of decision-making is intuition. Some believe you can just "trust your gut," and that's partially true. As a general decision-making process, it's a generally lousy approach to bet on. But there are grains of truth to intuition, and it's worth teasing out when it can be beneficial and when it is not. At its best, I like to think of intuition as the opposite of bias. Bias is when our brains short-wire; when they lead us astray without us even realizing it. With intuition, we get sudden bursts of insights. Rather than tripping us up, these insights are often incredibly beneficial. Like bias, it is often happening at a subconscious level that we aren't fully aware of. But unlike bias, instead of being subconsciously bad, they are subconsciously good. So just like we should explore how to reduce bias, we should be exploring how we can enhance intuition (at least the good intuition).
The final three components of decision-making are a bit more straight-forward:
(4) Group decision-making = When teams of people are making choices together.
(5) Ethical decision-making = As we factor in morality into the choices we make.
(6) Emotional decision-making = When we appreciate our choices as more than just cold, rational calculations, and we instead recognize the ways our feelings impact the choices we make, for better or for worse.
If we consider decision-making holistically, it can do a lot to ensure we are both more effective and also happier.