Each year I’m tasked with claiming my one word for the new year ahead. Not wanting to be too bold or over the top, trying to be grounded and realistic while grasping for inspiration and courage, for five years I've struggled to find the right word. Each year as time progressed, I annually felt like I failed to find the right one word resulting in the annual haunting of that arbitrarily selected word. The semantics of that chosen annual one word never seemed quite right as the presupposed implications of my selected one word never seemed matched my day-to-day reality. Per diem those chosen words were left to dry on the wet soggy pages of a dictionary of misrepresentations or disappointments. It was like I was stuck in a forced improv gone wrong time and time again, leaving me to dread the call for the performance of that one word to mark the new year.

Reclaiming Clarity

This past fall something shifted, after a period of feeling somewhat stuck and uncertain about what marks my own growth and achievement, a new word silently surfaced. No longer was I grappling to find the one word for my new year as it came with new ease and grace, clarity. From the blurry confusing constructs of my messy creative mind, a new resolution surfaced, a new resolve for clarity.

I recognize that on the surface my life looks tight, clear, and well put together. It is in many ways, and I live with immense gratitude for the countless blessings in my life. Yet something has been unsettling and pushing on my ability to reconcile with what is. I couldn’t name the discerning source of this feeling, so I pointed a quick finger towards the realities of being a middle-aged woman juggling a myriad of professional and personal realities. While this may be true, now as I recenter and reflect, it is with clarity that I recognize settling with what is not my end game. I am learning that striving has been my professional lever. Striving for change, amplifying the need for inclusivity and expansive thinking so that every student has equitable access to meaningful and joyful learning in all schools. As clarity anchors my thinking, as I realize there is no room for settling with 'what is' when the lens of inclusivity is the looking glass.

With new found clarity, I realize that over the past decade, along with many others, I have been digging deep to disrupt the glittery venner of innovation in education. Balancing technical problems alongside of adaptive change in real time has pushed my leadership practice to the edges as we commit to building an educational system that supports all learners. How to leverage established educational structures with future inclusive systems is the wickedly tricky and frequently invisible work in our system. Running below the shiny landscape of educational innovation, lie the tangled emotional roots of inclusivity. Calibrating inclusivity is an act emotional labour and care work. It asks educators to answer the bold, brave question of "does all mean all?" You can't buy educational inclusivity, you can't progammatize it or incentivise it. With vulnerability and compassion, alongside of moments of beautiful clarity, you can see what is possible so you keep digging, disrupting and building a pathway of hope recognizing the unlimited potential of all students.