Teaching, Persuading, Healing: The Triple Art of Educational Consulting
“Straddling the line between a physician’s care and a salesman’s zeal, educational consultants wield the dual tools of empathy and persuasion to navigate the complex world of education.” I’m climbing towards 30 years of service in education. I’ve worked directly with Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment and educational consulting for the last 12 or 13 years. I’ve learned that those of us serving educators as an internal or external consultant are placed in a unique position. We bring with us lots of knowledge and experience; which causes me to feel like a physician. We observe, diagnose, and provide a prescription. On the flip side, we are faced with the idea that we have very little “mandate power.” We can encourage and support educator development, but we can’t force it. In this respect, I feel more like a salesman, peddling curriculum and strategies like they are the cure for all the ills in education. An Educational Consultant as a Physician My first thought is alw