Every blog, conversation, Ustream and conference session I engage in I always hear the same questions asked over and over-- How do we do this? It seems we know what and we know why- but PLEASE someone help us with the how!
Some would argue that the tension and irritation between "why" and "how" is by design. That these shifts are creating a permissive framework in education where there are no clear answers (Turner, 2004). And that in a changing educational environment the needed changes in education should be negotiated from a why approach rather than a how approach.
When we focus on the how, it prepares us for a linear, prescriptive learning experience. We determine what's missing? What do I want my students to learn that they do not know now? Yet, what is more appropriate when preparing students for their future is to realize we do not know what the "end" is. We can't be prescriptive in determining what is missing from our conception of what we want the end state of the student's learning to be, especially when we have no idea what is coming. Rather in an era that is not about precision or predetermined ways of doing things- we need to adopt a anticipative approach, not a prescriptive approach.The great thing about this shift is that even if we get some of it wrong-- (and we surely will) that those wrong approximations in and of themselves will help to create climate to support the needed shifts.
Screaming for Something Concrete to Hold on To
Yet, even knowing this is not "business as usual, but business as unusual" and that we have to unlearn and relearn- our inner teacher screams out for the concreteness of How. Give me the 10 simple steps to mastering the changes needed in education and I am there. Oh, if only it were that simple.
But in an effort to share "lessons learned" from the change management projects I find myself immersed in through my work with the ABPC 21st Century Learners project and Powerful Learning Practice (the work I do with Will Richardson) I am going to attempt to give you principles (not how to prescriptive steps) by which to guide your why approach to managing the needed changes in your schools and school systems.
Principles for Managing Change
Long-term transformational change has four primary aspects: scale (the change affects all or most of the school), magnitude (the degree to which it challenges the status quo), duration (the change is incremental at first and then moves to exponential), and strategic importance (how ready the culture is for adapting to change). Yet schools will only see significant change when the change occurs first at the level of the individual educational leader- be that principal, superintendent, or teacher. Real change, transformational change happens when there is personal ownership of the new technologies and concepts. Today's new economy is all about human capital, which starts with the educators in a school and then extends outward to all members of the school community.
1. People before Things (or test scores) Any significant educational transformation creates “people issues.” Teachers will be asked to challenge the status quo, engage in mutual accountability, changed job descriptions, development of new skills and
capabilities, and in general school staff will be unsettled and
resistant to these changes. A shared approach for managing
the change through learning communities — beginning with the leadership team and then engaging key
stakeholders and teacher leaders — should be developed early, and utilized often
as the change moves through the school or district. Trust will be developed overtime within the local community under an effective community leader. Once that happens, the community will become self-directed in how they help others through the change, and the leadership in the learning community will become shared. Working in teams ensures that individual issues are addressed without putting speed of adoption, morale, and results at risk. Teachers will need to perform and use action research to inform the reasons change is needed. Together, teams of teachers should embark in data
collection and analysis discovering why a redesign of strategy, systems, or processes is needed in the 21st Century. The result-- champion building, as these teacher researchers become the biggest advocates for the change initiative and key to helping implement the ideals throughout the school. 2. Start at the Top Because change is inherently unsettling for people at all levels of any organization and especially schools, when rumors of change begin to surface, all eyes will turn to the principal
and other members of the school's leadership team for strength, support, and direction. Which means- the
leaders must do more than talk a good game. They themselves must embrace the new approaches first, both to
challenge and to motivate the rest of the faculty. They develop their own online voice and model the desired behaviors.Which means that superintendents, principals and teacher leaders will also be going through a learning curve and need to be supported. My personal experience in helping schools and school systems through change has been that the most successful stories come only after the
leadership team went through the process of aligning and committing to
the change initiative. Remember- change is caught- not taught. 3. Everyone is a Player in the Change Game Transformational change in a school needs to include everyone. That means all staff, from the custodian to the secretary and even the lunch room staff. As you plan for change by defining your strategy and setting
targets for design and implementation, remember to include all levels of
the organization. At each layer of your school, create professional learning teams with leaders who have a shared vision and are motivated to make
change happen and understand how the change relates to their area of influence and control. 4. Garner Buy-in Teachers are inherently rational and reasonable folk and will question to what extent
the change is needed, whether the principal is headed in the right direction,
and whether they want to commit personally to making change happen.
They will look to the leadership for answers. The articulation of a
formal case for change and the creation of a modified, shared vision statement
are invaluable opportunities to create or compel buy-in. Teachers and leaders who champion the change need to be able to articulate why and what they believe, as well as why it is in the best interest of children. 5. Can't Give Away What You Do Not Own To truly be successful at implementation of 21st Century change there must be ownership by those willing to accept responsibility for
making change happen in all their areas of influence.
Ownership is often best created by involving people in identifying potential problems and crafting solutions- which happens naturally in a community of practice. Willingness to "own it" can be reinforced by incentives and
rewards. These can be extrinsic or intrinsic (for example, camaraderie and a sense of shared destiny will go a long way when accomplishments are recognized by school boards and in district publications).
6. Communicate and Often Too
often, those involved in the change make the mistake of believing that others
understand the issues, feel the need to change, and see the new
direction as clearly as they do. The best change programs reinforce
core messages through regular, timely advice that is both inspirational
and practical. Often this will
require overcommunication through multiple, redundant channels. I am continually amazed at those who still act as though they are hearing the goals of a project for the first time - even with countless streams of communication about what the plan was for the project. Web 2.0 tools provide the perfect megaphone needed to communicate the emergent and evolving messages in a conversational way. The community needs to develop a collective plan for how they will "roll out" the communication of the change project and how they will keep the communications coming as a way to celebrate success and share concerns. 7. Know Your Culture and Predict Possible Impact 21st Century change tends to pick up speed and intensity as it cascades and spirals through a school environment, making it critically important that leaders understand and
account for culture and behaviors at each level. Participatory media has a tendency to create viral change and scale fairly quickly and if cultural impacts are not planned for- the result can become less than desirable. Educational leaders often make the mistake of assessing culture either too late
or not at all. Ask yourself, do you know your school's readiness factor in terms of accepting change? Does your school already have strategies in place for how to bring major problems to the surface, identify
conflicts, and negotiate outcomes? Do learning teams, and ultimately your learning community know how to identify the core
values, beliefs, behaviors, and perceptions that must be taken into
account for successful change to occur? Asking these hard questions before starting to implement a 21st Century change initiative can serve as the common
baseline for designing essential change elements, such as embedding 21st Century skills into the core curriculum or determining what new literacies your students will need to know and how delivery of curriculum will need to change in order for students to be successful in mastery.
8. Expect the Unexpected
21st Century change is by design emergent and organic in nature. Implementation from my experience never goes completely according to plan. People react in unexpected ways; areas of anticipated resistance fall away; and the external environment shifts etc. To manage the needed shifts in your school, the community will need to continually reassess. This is why ownership is so important. Each wave of adoption of the transformational change process will have its own tensions and unexpected outcomes. Data driven decision-making will help inform your strategies somewhat, but realize along the way that much of this is so new- that we do not know what we do not know. We are often "building this airplane while we are flying it."
9. As the Individual Grows so Will the Collective Wisdom of the Community
Change is both an institutional journey and a very personal one. Educators spend many hours each week at school; many think of their colleagues as a second family- and as their community away from home. Individuals (or teams of individuals) yearn to know how their work will change, what is expected of them during and after the change, how they will be measured, and what success or failure will mean for them and those around them. But the truth is- so much of this change is emergent that we simply do not know how to answer these important questions. To quote Peter Vaill,"... it as if we are all in constant whitewater."
As you contemplate the needed change in your schools, make it your mantra to chant "people matter." It is all too tempting to dwell on the tasks at hand and the rationale behind what you are trying to accomplish rather than deal with the more difficult and more critical "people issues." But in the 21st Century, bottom line is that relationships are all that matter. It is no longer about information management and prescriptive outcomes, but rather about building capacity- in ourselves, our faculty, our staff and in our students and then being able to contextualize the collective wisdom we gain through those relationships to making the world a better place.
Resources:
Turner, D. (2004). Privatisation, decentralisation and education in the united kingdom: The role of the state. International Review of Education. 50,11,pp. 347-357(11).
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