On February 12th I blogged about our teacher leadership session focused on two critical questions from The Influencer. The questions are critical for leadership to consider when staff is engaged in a significant change initiative. The questions are:
· Is it worth it? (If not, why waste the effort?)
· Can I do it? (If not, why try?)
· Is it worth it? (If not, why waste the effort?)
· Can I do it? (If not, why try?)
I shared the following:
When we move to the second question around can I do it, I share my belief that we make assumptions that almost all teachers believe that they can be successful at changing their behavior to align with that of the stated goal. I believe that these assumptions are made based upon the leader's personal experience not on data and information from those being asked to make the change.
This is because most teachers in leadership roles are among the "early adopters" of any change initiative. This means that they are among the first to find out about it, learn it, and try it. When it comes time to share the initiative with others their experience base leads them to believe that others will embrace the change as they do and not see it as difficult to do. I believe that this is not always the case and that more teachers than we think question whether they can do it for many reasons.
No one commented on this and I am curious to know if my assumptions are accurate. For me it is like when I am asked by someone, usually much younger than I am, to play a video game. I am great at watching, but have little experience in playing and am intimidated by what I see skilled players do. So, being somewhat competitive, if asked to play I find some reason to avoid what I believe would be an embarrassing outcome. It saves face, but I wonder what the private thoughts are of those that I don’t play? I haven’t thought about that question until now and it is bothering me. I might have to actually do some practicing in private and give it a try. I don’t want my son, son-in-law, and granddaughter to think I’m chicken.
Though my personal example does not have the same sense of urgency that our change initiatives do, I believe that the experience may be the same for some teachers. I believe that some question if they have the knowledge, skill, capacity, desire, energy, or . . . to engage in the change. We tend to lump the reasons together and label those that make these decisions though we need to become much better at knowing what specifically is in the way as we consider how to support all those expected to change. One example is the perceived or real gap in teachers’ use of technology in classrooms. Another might be the implementation of the district written curriculum units. The list could go on, but what I am interested in knowing is if there is any accuracy in my assumption or is the second question not critical for us to consider? I would welcome any thoughts you might be willing to share.
2 comments:
I think that your first assumption is correct. Most teachers involved in the Leadership Institute are probably early adopters and more apt to perceive the change as both good and doable. I also agree that some of those not involved in the Leadership Institutes might not welcome the change with the same level of enthusiasm. There might be some who are not as enthusiastic because they are worried they can't do it. However, I would imagine that there are a greater number who do not embrace the change because they believe what they are currently doing is already the right thing to do. There is also a smaller number who do not embrace change because they are either lazy, feel that "this too shall pass", or do not have a clear picture of the finished product.
This stated, I believe that most do embrace change well when it is presented with a clear rationale and rock solid plan of implementation.
In my limited viewpoint I would compare the technology initiative and the secondary science curriculum adoption. The science adoption had a clear rationale developed and communicated clearly to all the stakeholders. The plan for implementation was developed with specific target dates. The adoption went fairly smoothly.
The real/perceived gap in the technology initiative is a much bigger beast. The group of stakeholders is much larger and the targets less clear. Understandably, I am not sure that anyone could describe what the timeline is or what it should look like in five years. I don't know that these two examples are fair to compare. Perhaps on some levels but probably not at all levels.
Mike Hanson
Mike,
Yes, the first Influencer question speaks to the WHY of the change. We need to ensure that all have multiple opportunities to engage in the worth of the change before we expect behavior to change. We share in our leadership class that we believe none of our teachers comes to school wanting to harm young people. They do what they believe will be most supportive of them. As you share, in some cases this may not be aligned with the change initiative. We must find ways to do as you suggest and that is to provide answers to the why question and demonstrate through our behavior that the implementation plan provides support over time and will result in success.
The comment on technology and lack of a common understanding of the goals and timeline is true. One would have to read the Technology Plan to have some sense of this and even then it would be difficult.
Thanks, Mike
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