Leading Schoolwide Change: Where do we begin?
I peeked on Twitter today - part of my minimal diet of social media now - and I was intrigued by this tweet from Will Richardson.
I'm all for convos about "transforming schools" and ending the "status quo." Just not if those discussion are being held without a lot of serious truth-telling that cuts to the very DNA of "school." Grades. Disciplines. Classes. Curriculum. Is that all on the table? #justaskin
— Will Richardson (@willrich45) January 13, 2020
It led to expected "amen"s and likes. However, not all of the comments followed the implied position of the original post. For example:
There are schools out there that are getting to the core of student learning in their transformation efforts; but not enough. This is hard work for schools; they have to be very committed to a great student learning experience in order to succeed.
— jbackon (@jbackon) January 13, 2020
I appreciated the honest reply from this practicing teacher, as well as the initial provocative post. Change is hard; it takes commitment from an entire school culture. Yet schools cannot avoid the challenge. Our kids deserve better, sooner rather than later. So where to begin? How do we start the transformation process?
I am preparing for a workshop on just such a topic. "Lead Like a Coach" describes a five-step process for facilitating schoolwide growth toward continuous excellence for all students.
The first step I have found to be essential is to "create the conditions for positive change". This work is about building trust, developing relationships, and knowing the community, the content, and the collective instruction currently being delivered in the school.
Now leading my second building, I believe that if I would have come in with some "serious truth-telling" without first investing into the conditions for positive change, the response I would have received would not have been productive. What is implied from messages where honesty exisits without consideration and context: a school is doing something wrong and they need to be fixed.
That's been the unfortunate attitude for many politicians and reformers trying to change education: Locate the problem and offer a solution. However, with this first step of creating the conditions for positive change, I emphasize the word "positive". That is, educators looking to lead change should:
Seek first to understand (F. Covey)
Affirm what's going well
Build off of one's strengths
Recognize that not everyone will jump at the chance right away to grow professionally
This is not new thinking. There's evidence to support a positive approach to organizational change in education, such as Regie Routman's residencies in schools and districts (check out this three-part podcast interview with Regie for more information). Taking a strengths-oriented stance toward change also finds success in the business world, such as through Appreciative Inquiry, developed by David Cooperrider and Diana Whitney. Atul Gawande discusses similar concepts in the medical world in his excellent book, Better.
But what are the specifics? How do we get started in my school? My first suggestion: Get into classrooms. Go without an agenda, other than to look for strengths and positive aspects of your school. Tell your teachers your intentions ahead of time. Before you leave the classroom, make sure they know what you saw and why you thought it was great.
I'd like to continue this conversation throughout the week on how to initiate sustainable change. Tomorrow on my newsletter, I will be publishing a description of one recent example of me visiting a classroom with growth in mind. It involves conferring with a 3rd grade writer, celebrating both the student's work and the teacher's instruction. Have a question related to this topic? Post it in the comments here and maybe we will discuss it Wednesday on the newsletter (7 P.M. CST). I look forward to learning with you - sign up for free today!
Photo by Nitish Meena on Unsplash