Wake up, teacher.

It’s happening.

and it’s happening now – there’s no future perfection to wait for. All there is, and all there ever will be, is here and now.

I used to think the real aim of professional development was to wake up the ideal future teaching self that was sleeping inside me. One day, by a process of trial and error, I would allow it to thrive and blossom. I used to think that the present was only a preparation for the future, for the Real Teacher Me that would come later.

One day, perhaps. But not now, not yet.

In some way, it was true. The present moment was, and always should be, seen as a possibility to open up future possibilities, by learning, preparing, trying things out.

However, what I then became to realise was that the ideal teacher self wasn’t something to wait for, nor was it something to save until it was ready.

It was, always has been, there – available in each present moment I lived through.

The present moment is the only real opportunity to be as perfect, as ideal, as we possibly can.  There’s no need to wait, no need to hold back for fear of failure. Imperfection is as natural and beautiful in the ideal as it is in a da Vinci painting.

Professional development and perfection are happening right now, hand in hand. There is no universal, one-size-fits all, Ideal Teacher that we should strive to become, and no blueprint for perfection.

By reflecting, observing, learning, contemplating, experiencing, imagining new possibilities, creating, enjoying and doing one’s best, we can be the best we can now.

Professional development is about obtaining, owning, and personalising skills. It’s about learning to use them as only you, I, or each and every other person would use them, each in our own, special way.

Professional development is about opening up to the possibility of being ideal – right now.

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