Be Hard on the Systems and Gentle with the People
Newsletter
Key question to consider while reading: What system-level changes could you make to overcome personal or cultural challenges in your team and in our school/district?
Last year, a colleague and I supported a district in developing a clearer and more robust literacy support system. We analyzed relevant student data, mapped out their current screening and intervention tools, and collaborated with the school team to decide on thresholds that would qualify a student for additional support.
The leaders then implemented the system. We hadn't heard from the team for a while until we received a call one day. Apparently, the system worked well. Too well.
Some students who typically received intervention services no longer qualified based on the data, while other students who had never received additional support did qualify. This led to confusion and consternation among staff.
When we worked with the team to determine the source of the confusion, we found that communication could have been better. An email had been sent to all faculty about the change to a more data-driven decision-making model for intervention supports. However, the "why" behind the change had not been clearly explained. Staff hadn't been given the opportunity to voice concerns or ask questions prior to implementation.
Sensing that there was some "circling of the wagons" and potential for individuals to be blamed for the change, we posed some questions to help build perspective:
Regarding this change, what was communicated well, and what wasn't? How do you know?
Do you feel the process led to the outcomes you envisioned: to create a more objective process for assigning supports to students who needed them the most?
What can we celebrate from this experience?
What can we learn from this experience?
How do we want to operate moving forward?
By answering these questions as a team, they came to see that no one individual was responsible for making the intervention and support system work. Everyone had influence. Each person was accountable in some way, even those outside the leadership team.
This is the core understanding of systems thinking. It involves taking a step back and looking at an issue or problem from a broader perspective.
A helpful metaphor is to imagine a present challenge as actors delivering a play on a stage. The actors go through their lines, interacting with their fellow characters. If we remain only in those roles, we experience what we are feeling: maybe guilt, frustration, or even despair. Conflict is expected in a play. (It would be a pretty boring production if everything were perfect!) If we move ourselves to the balcony level and look down upon the situation as audience members, we see much more:
All the characters and how each of them influences the situation.
The setting and environment in which each scene takes place.
How the characters change and (hopefully) grow throughout the story.
Viewing a play through the eyes of the audience allows us to generate compassion and understanding for each of the characters—even the villains, if the story is told well.
Returning to instructional leadership, coaching each other with genuine questions and compassion for our challenges leads to acceptance and growth. We are gentler with each other as we take a harder, more critical look at the systems that may have created the problems in the first place.
In the example of the literacy intervention system that worked too well, we critiqued the communication system. Our questions pulled us into the more objective balcony and away from the emotionally charged stage, where issues are less likely to be resolved. Clear thinking led to next steps on their journey to literacy excellence. We even celebrated the fact that the leadership team overcame a significant challenge together.
Every school has problems. But these challenges are not actually the problem. Rather, they are the entry point for leaders to explore present challenges more deeply. The only problem arises when schools and districts view these issues as personal failures, blame colleagues, or sweep them under the rug while rationalizing their inaction because of "poverty" or "lack of family engagement." Seen through a more objective and appreciative lens, school leaders can embrace their challenges as opportunities to grow and change on behalf of their students.
Questions for you:
What is one pressing problem or challenge that is consistently on your mind?
Ask yourself: Why is this a problem? Who is it a problem for?
If this problem or challenge were solved, what would be an ideal outcome? What would success look like?
Who can you speak with and discuss the next small step or two needed to move this problem toward that ideal outcome?
Related Resources
“If Men Are in Trouble, What is the Cause?” This column in The New York Times highlights research on the overrepresentation of males with low achievement, poor behavior, and lack of engagement in school. Potential reason? “A substantial fraction of the gender gap in high school outcomes can be explained by the differential effect of family SES (socioeconomic status) on boys’ medium-run outcomes.”
The road to systemwise change runs through leadership. This Edutopia article highlights five ways school leaders prefer to receive professional support: through school-level opportunities, through district-provided opportunities, by reading journals and books, in face-to-face networking with colleagues, and through attendance at state association conferences. (Interestingly, coaching was not one of the preferred approaches even though the majority of leaders surveyed value it.)
Next week I will be sharing a communication guide for instructional leaders. It will offer a step-by-step process for helping ensure a new initiative, for example acquiring a new literacy curriculum, is implemented with more confidence and less resistance. This guide will be available for full subscribers only.
Professional Learning Opportunity - The Coach’s Notebook
Looking for more presence and productivity without adding on more app?
I have partnered with Choice Literacy to offer “The Coach’s Notebook”, a practical online course/live event experience for busy educators.
Any instructional leader can learn this system.
Get a notebook and a favorite pen.
Learn to leverage your notebook as a tool and a system for productivity.
Lead with joy, presence, and intention.
I hope you can join us!
Take care,
Matt