I had a moment of pause and reflection while reading entrepreneur Seth Godin’s blog, where he challenged leaders by stating, “Our task, then, is to find people we can encourage and nurture until they’re as impatient with average as we are” (Godin, 2010).

John Maxwell, a well-known author on leadership, shares a related sentiment: “Average people do not want others to go beyond average” (Maxwell, 2004).

In our society, there often seems to be a push for people to fit in and strive for the middle. Jennifer York-Barr, a mentor of mine at the University of Minnesota, refers to this as “crab-bucket culture.” Crab buckets don’t need lids because, as one crab attempts to escape, it is pulled down by the others. Too often, educators feel a need to hide their excellence from colleagues or friends. An aspiration for average is far too pervasive in our society and our schools.

Shifting this culture requires collaboration by a team whose members push and support one another. It requires a team working to foster a culture in which each school staff member sees excellence as an aspiration.

I believe that teachers, staff, and leaders in schools everywhere want this type of culture. Realizing these hopes requires educators to be radical learners. Jim Knight describes radical learners as “people who are driven by learning, who get up in the morning fired up to try something new, to make a difference, to teach and learn” (Knight, 2010).

However, radical learners cannot flourish working in isolation. Ensuring the success of each of our students is a collective endeavor. Support, active involvement, and an impatience with average — from every staff member — are necessary.

I feel fortunate to be a member of Learning Forward, an association that recognizes the need for effective collaboration that aligns the work of adults around improving student learning. Learning Forward provides a place to find resources, support, and connections with like-minded educators so we can deepen our collective efforts to meet the needs of our students.

I recently spent a couple of hours visiting an elementary school in my district. Afterward, I kept thinking about the level of student engagement and personalized learning I had seen. Students were engaged in substantive conversation, setting goals and monitoring their own learning, and, most important, experiencing success.

How did it get that way? The staff members are radical learners who have made professional learning a part of their collective work. They don’t take collaboration and their work with students for granted — it is a constant focus. The staff consistently turns to Learning Forward as a resource.

Accomplishing excellence in schools takes a team of radical learners collectively working to foster a culture that results in every staff member aspiring to be remarkable. This kind of adult learning can happen in all schools.

The beneficiaries are students, as well as the adults, who experience a greater sense of efficacy in their work.

Are you impatient with average? I hope so.