Secrets of change..

We are in the midst of a lot of change at Rugby Public Schools.  We have implemented a late start this year to set the tone for where we want to go with teacher collaboration.  We are creating a culture of professional learning, by providing embedded time to read and learn about best practice.  The focus is on the teacher, and creating an atmosphere of continuous learning from the top to the bottom.  There is various research that supports the teacher as the number one influence on student achievement.  Along with all this comes the scary word... change.

I am finishing up the Six Secrets of Change by Michael Fullan.  I am going to talk about the first four, because I believe they are the most important.  Fullan talks about the following secrets, which to me aren't really secrets they are just what good organizations do.

Secret One: Love your employees 

Fullan feels that loving the customer (student) is equally as important as loving the employee (teacher).  Can we even have balance between what is best for teachers and students?  I don't know that for sure. I try to base all decisions with the student in mind and many times that is in direct conflict with the teacher.

Secret Two: Connect peers with purpose 

"Show me a cohesive, creative organization, and I'll show you peer interaction all the way down."

It is so important that we setup and establish job embedded time for our teachers to collaborate. We are learning from each other, and that is key to improvement.  The types of conversations and work that is being accomplished during our collaboration time is amazing.  We would never accomplish this work in any other way.  We cannot expect them to collaborate effectively without goals, we must give them direction.  Fullan refers to this as tight-loose, meaning we need to provide the direction, but give teachers the flexibility to make it their own.

"When teachers within a school collaborate, they begin to think not just about "my classroom" but also about "our school." Fullan 

Secret Three: Capacity building prevails AND Secret Four: Learning is the work

"The quality of the education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers." Barber and Mourshed

These two secrets are very similar in my opinion and fit nicely together. Building capacity is about learning.  As school leaders we know we can't pick and choose who we want in our schools. That is why it is so important to develop capacity within our schools.  In my opinion this cannot be done voluntarily, we have to establish a system that forces this.  I am all about job embedded time that forces professional learning to occur in a nice way. :) I wrote previously about our changes to professional development.

"People have built quite successful careers - describing the hill, measuring the hill, walking around the hill, taking pictures of the hill, and so forth.  Sooner or later, somebody needs to actually climb the hill." Pfeffer 

Do you provide opportunities for teachers to engage in substantial learning about their practice in the setting in which they actually work?

We aren't there yet, but I believe we are heading in the right direction.  Change isn't easy, but it is essential for progress!