Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Derek Riddle . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Derek, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
I grew up hearing phrases such as “This life is just a test” and quotes like “I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you… we are in charge of our Attitudes” (Charles Swindoll, n.d.). For me, purpose has come as I have learned to see life for what it is…an opportunity for perpetual development. True joy and happiness lie in seizing opportunities to become.
There is a Chinese proverb, I believe, that goes something like this:
A farmer and his son had a beloved stallion who helped the family earn a living. One day, the horse ran away and their neighbors exclaimed “Your horse ran away, what terrible luck!”. The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”
A few days later the horse returned home, leading a few wild mares back to the farm as well. The neighbors shouted out “Your horse has returned and brought several horses home with him. What great luck!” and the farmer replied “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”
Later that week, the farmer’s son was trying to break one of the mares and she threw him to the ground, breaking his leg. The villagers cried “Your son broke his leg, what terrible luck!”. The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”
A few weeks later, soldiers from the national army marched through town, recruiting all the able-bodied young men for the army. The farmer’s son wasn’t conscripted, because he was still recovering from his injury. His neighbors shouted “Your boy is spared, what tremendous luck!”, to which the farmer replied “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”
I have seen this pattern in my own life. In middle school, I went to year-round school. For two of my three years, I was on the same calendar schedule and was fortunate to make friends, who were going to school on the same schedule. In my final year, I was initially told I would have the same calendar schedule, but on the first day of school, I was given a completely different schedule. I tried to change my schedule, but my wise mother suggested I stick it out for a week and see if there was something to be learned from this experience. Fortunately, I did, and I ended up making friends who would more positively influence me in later years than would have my prior group of friends.
In my senior year in high school, I became pretty ill and lost out on opportunities to play collegiate-level sports. However, the year after high school, I found my faith and began participating in a greater opportunity: to share my faith through missionary service in another country.
While serving a mission for my church, I struggled unexpectedly with my mental health. However, this experience strengthened my faith and helped me develop characteristics I would not have been able to develop any other way.
Upon returning home, I decided to move away and try to finish my education in another state. It did not work out and set me back a couple of semesters. I found myself returning back home feeling like I failed. However, In the semester I returned home, I met the person who would eventually become my wife, who just happened to be completing her education in a sort-of study abroad situation. She had moved to my hometown to complete her education the same semester I returned home. The experiences I had trying college elsewhere led me to become the person, who, I believe, was a match for my incredible partner. I joked that I had a semester to convince her to stay. Fortunate for me, I did something right, and we married the very next semester.
I have had many more stories like this throughout my life where I found purpose in seeing life as opportunities to learn and become better each and everyday. I find a lot of purpose and happiness living this way. I find asking, “What could I learn from this situation?” a better way to approach life. I get excited each day eagerly anticipating what the day might bring and what new lessons could be learned.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
It was a conversation–or rather a pattern I noticed when conversing with my middle/high school students–that led me to do what I am doing. I would have students remark how much they enjoyed my class. They would either report they felt (a) valued and/or (b) that they learned and/or enjoyed learning in my class. I was always appreciative of the validation that my efforts were bearing fruit. However, it was the next comment that troubled me. I noticed more often than I would like to admit that students did not feel the same about ALL their teachers.
It was hard for me to witness that. What I loved most about education was the opportunity to mentor and make a difference in the lives of young people. While I was feeling successful at accomplishing this in my own class, I was troubled by the experiences my students were having or not having outside my class. It made me wonder what more I could do.
I was always eager to engage in professional learning opportunities. As a result, I began to learn a lot of great strategies and ideas that helped me become a better teacher. I think this is what led me to pursue graduate-level work. Then, I was fortunate to become an instructional coach for my district. I found I enjoyed teaching the teachers just as much as I enjoyed teaching adolescents. It was exhilarating to help them learn and develop. This led me to pursue a doctorate in teacher education. I really was interested in the idea of how to help teachers become their best selves. I also did not realize how much I would love the research aspect of studying teaching and teachers.
I think the best job would be for me to be in a school, teaching middle school and high school students, and also having a portion of my day dedicated to working with teachers in the school. Unfortunately, those types of jobs in education do not exist. You would have to either be a full-time teacher or a full-time instructional coach. For me, the next best thing is being a university teacher educator. I have the opportunity to work with the next generation of teachers, which allows me to give them a great foundation instead of them having to learn these ideas/strategies later on down the road, if at all. I also get to be in classrooms with them and support them to make sense of how to teach. This also allows me to work, at times, with their mentor teachers, who are seasoned teachers also still looking to become better teachers. Getting opportunities to share ideas with them as well as learn from them is an incredible experience. I also get to work with people beyond the classroom. I have had opportunities to work alongside school leaders, policymakers, and others who have the authority to make a bigger difference in education. Again, to share and learn from them has been an incredible opportunity. I also have the opportunity to innovate and learn alongside people like me, who are eager and active to shape the educational system in positive ways. Those people work with me at my university and others I have met as I have traveled to share my ideas and work at conferences across the country. It has been the opportunity of a lifetime to travel and see new places and interact with different people. I have been truly blessed.
I think, ultimately, this has been a job I never knew I wanted. To spend my day teaching, researching, and serving my community and the education profession has allowed me to make the kind of difference I was hoping to make.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I think the number one quality is work. I have been given amazing opportunities; I will not deny the privileges I have been afforded, but I will also not diminish that my continued success stems from working diligently to meet goals and improve. I take my title as a doctor/expert in my field seriously. I think most people with graduate degrees would agree that their education did not teach them more, but rather showed them how little they really know and understand. I am humbled by the title and the call to be an academic and a scholar, but I also recognize that it is a responsibility. I want to live up to the title and continue to work hard at becoming what I need to become for those I serve. My advice for those who want to develop a better work ethic is to try to do harder things than you have done before. I find this is the only way to [to quote one of my favorite movies “Treasure Planet”], “really test the cut of your sails, and show what you’re made of.”
I also think another quality that helped me is being curious. I should have known I would have enjoyed researching when I was in the fifth grade. At the time, I saw a trailer for The Lion King. In anticipation of the movie, I spent my recess time in the library learning about the animals I saw in the trailer. I think being an academic is like having an itch. It is hard not to scratch the thirst for wanting to explore something. I would suggest whoever reads this and wants to develop greater curiosity that begin by asking questions–questions they have no readily available answers for and ones that make a person eager to want to answer for themselves.
Lastly, I would say be willing to collaborate. Some of the best ideas I have arrived at have been through having lots of conversations with other people. It takes a village to solve the world’s problems. I would suggest finding your people and then continuing to add people to your circle, specifically people who you may not always see the world the same way you do. It is a character-refining process to just sit and have a deep exchange with people.
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
I am learning to label my feelings when I can. Saying, “Man, I feel overwhelmed” can be so therapeutic. Once I have identified the feeling, it just takes time for me to allow my more logical voice to drown out my irrational one. I have come to just try and swallow things in digestible sizes. I can easily become a workaholic and develop tunnel vision when trying to accomplish a goal or complete a project. I have had to learn that this same project will still be here tomorrow and to hang up my coat and call it a day. I find when I do this, I can focus my efforts on things that bring me energy–my faith, my family, self-care–and allow me to tackle those overwhelming situations with greater ease.
I also need to talk things out. It is easier to process my feelings when I can lay them out on the table and talk about them. I am so grateful for my wife who allows me the grace to do this and even holds my hand through that messy process. I attribute a lot of who I am today because of her wisdom and grace.
