Transitioning Schools, Trust Considerations

Schools undergoing a transition moving from a sinking school to a moving school rely on the expertise of leadership to initiate this movement. Sinking schools are characterized by dysfunctional staff relationships and power issues (Stoll, 1999, p.525). Fundamentally underlying these dysfunctions are issues regarding trust. Schools that are faced with trust issues will most likely not participate in collaborative activities (Bryk et. al, 2003, p. 43). There has been some recent research in addressing trust issues leading to greater collaboration. Cosner of the University of Chicago highlights high school principals that were successful at building organizational capacity and provides tried and tested ways to develop trust.

Although there is no generic, one size fits all solution for addressing the issue of developing or reestablishing trust, two influential ways to move a school is to develop a focus on people and promoting positive politics. There appears to be a number of practical considerations that can be applied to solving trust problems according to Tshannen-Moran, “. . . principals support trust formation between teachers by shaping a cooperative culture, creating time and structures that support collaboration, establishing norms for interaction, intervening to help resolve conflicts or to enforce norms of behavior, and improving the conflict resolution skills of teachers.” (as cited by Cosner, 2009, p.256). Context is key, decisions about the final approach to solving the issue of trust need to be based on the specific situations that the school is faced with.

Creating a culture of trust is important to ensuring the successful transition from a sinking school to one that is moving. School leadership needs to focus on trust issues and ensure that they alleviate them. Doing so will create a culture that enhances compassion, fosters dependability, embraces frankness and subsequently leads to greater collaboration.

References

Bryk, A., & Schneider, B. (2003). Trust in schools: A core resource for school reform. Educational Leadership, 60(6), 40-44.

Cosner, S. (2009). Building organizational capacity through trust. Educational Administration Quarterly, 45(2), 248-291.

Stoll, L. (1999). Realising our potential: understanding and developing capacity for lasting improvement. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 10(4), 503-532

Context in Education for Change

Throughout the postings that we have so far there is a common theme of change that is emerging from reading Gladwell's work, the Tipping Point. Previously we considered the role of different change agents in education and the contents of  a change message that we are trying to bring to people. The final consideration that Gladwell addresses in his writing is that of the power of context. There are a number of different contextual ideas that Gladwell refers to: the fact that small changes in context can determine whether a change will tip, the implication that behaviour is a function of social context and the idea of social channel capacity and its relationship to the most beneficial size of groups for change.

If one of the changes that you are trying to bring about is rebuilding an organization's morale we can apply the work of James Q. Wilson and George Kelling, the Broken Window theory (as cited by Gladwell, 2002, p. 141). The lessons from New York City and the changes that occurred within the city during the early 90's and the implications for schools can not be overlooked. We have seen this theory in action popularized in the movie "Lean on Me", a true to life story loosely based on a former high school principal from New Jersey who cleans up a school in all aspects.

Essentially New York City was not a pretty place to live in during the late 1980's and early 1990's. There was rampant crime throughout the city; the streets were unsafe as illustrated by the story of Bernie Goetz. Mr. Goetz was involved in shooting four black youths who were approaching him in a provocative manor. He fled the scene of the crime and was considered to be a hero having done what so many other New Yorkers felt that they could not do, stand up to the thugs. He turned himself in and was acquitted for his crime.

Wislon and Kelling surmised that this act of violence by an individual who would not have typically acted in such a way was a result of the context that he was living in. At the time the city had the appearance of anarchy. It was extremely dirty; graffiti on the walls of the subway system, people jumping the fare turnstiles, squeegee people not being addressed, numerous broken windows, and the list goes on.

Enter the change, addressing the issues one by one, the city made a dramatic turn around.  It was the little things that needed to be addressed. Clean up the subway system car by car. Apprehend the fare jumpers. Deal with issues of public urination. These seemingly small offenses combined together created a context of fear, people did not feel safe, people who were unlikely to act out, did so. It was all a matter of the surroundings.

There is an obvious application for the Broken Window theory in schools. In the position of leadership, faced with a school where you need to make a dramatic change it will not be a one shot, big idea that is going to transition your school. It is going to be addressing smaller issues one by one, issues that are creating a negative context within the building. Here are some ideas to keep in mind: deal with graffiti promptly, keep the washrooms clean, get out of the office and be visible to everyone, connect with people to be proactive as opposed to reactive, ensure that small acts of defiance are dealt with, avoid looking the other way, see confrontation as an opportunity to gain insight to the building and the people within. It is through dealing with the context of the building and the interactions there that you can bring about change.

The other highlight regarding context was the idea that there is an ideal maximum size of a group for which you can have the most effective interaction. Consideration of the size of the school can impact the ease at which you can bring about change. Reflecting on current schools and their size, there is wide variety. Larger schools are disadvantaged with regards to their communication. A school that has two thousand students over three grades will have a lot of difficulty ensuring that students do not fall through the cracks. So what is the maximum size for an effective group?

Social channel capacity is the number of individuals that we can keep track of with regards to their relationships with us and with others within the group. So what do you think would be the largest number of people that you could keep track of in terms of the interrelationships within a group? It turns out that there is supporting evidence to the number one hundred and fifty. One hundred and fifty is the maximum group size that allows for individuals to have a genuinely social relationship. Gladwell draws our attention to a number of examples where this is illustrated, the Gore-tex company and it's philosophy of forming new plants after the number of employees reaches that magic number, the Hutterites and the idea of splitting a colony when it reaches this maximum, the size of a platoon in the army and how it does not go above one hundred and fifty.

Why stay at this magical number of one hundred and fifty. The size of the group allows for greater informal one to one contact. Through this contact you will have a greater understanding of the strengths of the individual. You will have a greater capacity to transmit information. You will be able to develop relationships quickly and effectively. You will be able to call upon the transactive memory that is shared between individuals within that staff.

When organizing schools there are implications of the social channel capacity in two areas. The first applies to the teaching staff as a whole. Not that I have seen a staff that is greater than 150, there are a lot which get very close to this number, particularly when we consider support staff in conjunction with leadership and teaching staff.  Maintaining a staff that reaches the social channel capacity would be beneficial in implementing change as the context of the school is more apparent and the relationships are better visualized between staff.

The second consideration is that of the student body. There have been attempts to address the issue of having only one hundred and fifty students within a group at school and we have seen this in the form of the pod concept. I have had personal experience in the pod model of teaching and I would say that there are many benefits in terms of communication and the development of relationships with the students, particularly when paired with the concept of looping. This is a postmodern idea, having small communities of learners sharing with each other. Learning is a shared experience and if we are not able to develop relationships learning will not be as effective. The difficultly that arises from the pod concept is the resulting schools within schools. There is a fragmentation within the school as pods are islands unto themselves, connected to the school through leadership and the whole school concept. In addressing the issue social channel capacity and students another issue arises.

How as a leadership team can you have a whole school concept, with is symbols and traditions and still maintain these small groups? This is a key question in attempting to change schools in a post modern fashion. In attempting to answer this question, leadership is directed to the extracurricular aspects of a school. Through the participation in whole school activities such as intramurals, sports teams, music programs, art and drama programs there is a unification that would hopefully create this whole school culture.

Through this exploration of the Tipping Point we can see a number of different implications for change and the change process in education. Keeping in mind the transitions that are happening with society as a whole we can not ignore the ideas that we have talked about. We have visited considerations such as; the need to understand the messengers for change, the message itself and the context in which the message is being shared. Changing schools in education is inevitable and it is important that we have a clear understanding of the process and the individuals involved as we try to change schools and education for the better.


Reference

Gladwell, M. (2002). The Tipping Point- How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. New York, NY: Back Bay Books.

The Message, Another Consideration for Change.

Change in education is heavily influenced by the individuals involved in the change process but there are other factors that will influence change. The message containing the change idea needs consideration. As Gladwell writes, the message that will ultimately get passed on must be one that is memorable. He refers to it as the "stickiness factor". He highlights a number of considerations regarding the stickiness factor that I will interpret through the lens of educational change. The idea needs to be one that is embedded within the narrative of the school. Leaders for change will need to provide the space for the individuals within the building to wrestle with the implications of the change and allow them the time to personalize it for themselves. The information that is packaged for change must be scrutinized thoroughly, allowing for small adjustments that ultimately will lead to the best fit for the context wherein the change must live. Change is not only a function of the messenger but is coupled to the message itself.

Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate. Taking the time and providing the resources to scrutinize new ideas is a key component to creating a successful message for change. The idea that you present must by all accounts be supported by research. This could be research that is from academia, or site based action style research. Through the research that is compiled, your message will need to be molded and evaluated. This evaluation should lead to small but important changes to your message. It is these subtle adjustments that will help to ensure that you have a solid message for change. Finally, running your message by other trusted individuals, ones that are from other organizations or schools, will provide you with any additional insights that will strengthen your message. The fine tuned message will be one that you can feel confident in. Change will not happen unless you have taken the time to forge a solid idea grounded in ideals that are supported by others within your field.

Gladwell describes the role of the narrative in creating a message the is sticky through a comparison of the television shows, Sesame Street and  Blue's Clues. These are two very powerful educational programs designed and heavily scrutinized for literacy learning with preschoolers. When comparing the two programs he brings to light the greatest difference between the two shows. Sesame Street, a product of the early 1960's, is based on a commercial style, fun and flashy format. Learners are exposed to 60 second segments that contain information on the fundamentals of literacy. The hour long show is disconnected in the sense that there is no story that is told throughout the program. Sesame Street was highly successful in increasing literacy but there was room for improvement. Enter Blue's Clues, a half an hour show that had two main characters, a twenty something narrator and a blue dog. There was a very literal feel to the show, based on the idea of creating a narrative for which preschoolers are given a context to learn. Through the story it was found that the program had greater success in having their message of literacy stick for their learners when compared to Sesame Street. A classic modern, post modern tension and the post modern narrative wins out.

How does this idea connect with change and the understanding of change for educational leaders? When faced with aligning a staff towards a change that is going to improve learning, the staff needs to buy in. To achieve buy in the message will need to be more than a collection of disconnected facts. Although the facts may be true they will need to be assembled into a narrative, a story that allows the individuals who hear it to become engaged, particularly one that true and set in the building where the change must happen. Listeners will be have an opportunity to see how the idea directly connects to themselves and the students with whom they work.  Asking yourself the question, "How does this fit into the narrative of our setting?" will allow for an evaluation of a change message and subsequently will make it more sticky for those that hear it.

Other lessons from these two television shows relate to something the Children's Television Workshop referred to as the James Earl Jones effect. Gladwell recounts the story of James Earl Jones, with his engaging voice, reading the alphabet and leaving a long pause between each of the letters. The writers of Sesame Street had intended on filling this space with other elements, but upon testing with groups of preschoolers there was an extra level of engagement (Gladwell, 2002, p. 124-125). The kids would shout out the letter during the pauses. Blue's Clues writers incorporated this idea of leaving pauses throughout their shows and currently you can see evidence of this in numerous children programs providing the space and time for engagement.

In addition to placing your message within a narrative, it is important to allow space and time for them to sit with the idea. Participation on the part of the individuals that are going to be the front line change agents is something that must not be underestimated. Giving time and space for the staff to respond to the message provides an even greater opportunity for alignment. There will be people that have a difficult time faced with the idea that you are presenting. This is okay, as no new information can be fully understood the first time that it is delivered.  Providing the time and space for sharing will help in transitioning your greatest opposition to the change.

Finding the best way to promote change within an educational setting involves a number of factors. In my previous post we talked about the individuals involved in the process, focusing on connectors, mavens and salesmen. This particular post highlights the need to establish a great message for change. From a post modern perspective, we can see the role that creating a narrative, and the relational trust of leader to the school staff can to a greater possibility of  change. Change is not only connected to the message and the messengers but is set in a particular context. This will be the essence of my next post.

Reference

Gladwell, M. (2002). The Tipping Point- How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. New York, NY: Back Bay Books.
   

Change in Education and The People Involved as Change Agents

Education is undergoing a shift. Educational thinkers are reflecting about how schools can be organized the most effectively, how can we meet the needs of students? How can we create a body of learners who will be contributing members of society? As the mission of Alberta Education states; "Every student has access to educational opportunities needed to develop competencies required to contribute to an enriched society and a sustainable economy." (Alberta Education, 2010, p.1). Educational leaders and school leaders alike are questioning the effectiveness of our education system. Where there are schools that are not working, we need to intervene. Where there are technological changes in society, we evaluate the use of it for education. Where there are philosophical changes, moving from modernity to a post-modern ethos, reflection about organization and how we teach our kids needs to take place. Global change, along with the advent of new technologies is leading to the realization that we must change. It is our challenge to identify how we can go about it in the best way.

Transforming a school from one that is a sinking school to one that is moving requires change. This change will often be led by leadership. Gladwell's work on epidemics provides some insight for leadership, particularly how they would go about it, pointing to the people involved. He provides some practical insights for change and recognizing change agents. Gladwell refers to three types of people who act as agents of change involved in the generation of an epidemic: the Connector, the Maven and the Salesman. How can we connect these individuals to education? What will they look like in schools? What role will they have in change?

Connectors are individuals who seem to have their foot in a large number of different worlds (Gladwell, 2002, p.51). They have an instinct to relate to people. They genuinely enjoy meeting and getting to know others. We are familiar with these types of individuals in our own personal lives, in our own work settings.

At a school these individuals may be a coach of a major sport, teaching within an academic class, supportive of the arts and the student events that occur throughout the year. These people will be constantly visible, in the hallways, during lunch, and early in the morning. They will seek out others to converse, be the first to say "Hello", settle into the moment and engage in a conversation with others as if they are old friends. They will always appear to have time for you. Being able to recognize who these individuals are within a staff will be important in the sharing of information, to have ideas spread throughout the staff. Getting to know who they are will allow leaders an "in" with the staff, particularly if you are a new leader. Recognizing the power of connection they provide, leadership needs to ensure that these people are kept close to the administration team. They will have the ability to move information fast and to numerous people.

Mavens are the next group of individuals within the staff that may impact change in education. Gladwell (2002) defines the term Maven as coming from the Yiddish language as "one who accumulates knowledge." (p.61). Mavens are those individuals that have a genuine desire to help others through providing information to others, giving insightful advice in an honest and non-judgemental way.  They seem to know the inside scoop and are happy to share it with you.

Within a school Mavens can be identified as those individuals that are aware of the newest trends in education, the latest and greatest way to present ideas. Not only do they know about them, they have taken the time to evaluate them as well. With open honesty they will know if the ideas are good and will share them with others when the need arises. They are trusted by their colleagues and more often then not if they suggest to do something it will be effective. In addition to knowing they are very eager to find out little tidbits from others. They not only like sharing their own information but they are rampant collectors of it. Being familiar with the educational Maven will allow school leadership to know who to induce new ideas to. They will help in genuine ways to evaluate the new ideas and thus inform you as a leader. Knowing the educational Maven will be to your advantage to help move change, as ideas emerge and this trusted individual puts a stamp on it, others will listen.

The final group of individuals that Gladwell refers to are the Salesmen. These individuals are charismatic optimists that love people. They have a contagious personality with an innate ability to draw people in. With their subtle facial expressions and their enthusiastic  nature they are able to engage in a dance with others. They often dictate a subconscious interaction of verbal rhythm leading to an overall increase in happiness, enthusiasm and relaxation with those whom which they interact (Gladwell, 2002, p.83). As a result people listen to these individuals become emotionally at ease and thus are attentive when they pitch new ideas.

As for their role in  schools, they will be the individuals that will help communicate change to the rest of the staff. Ideally you would want to have a Salesmen on your leadership team. This individual may be able to set your staff at ease increasing the likelihood that change would be effective.

Leading change within an educational setting is dynamic and not easy. The grip of modernity on the education system resists systematic change. Faced with this monolith, leadership will need to call on all it's tools to help bring it about. Recognizing the change agents within a staff will help bring about school/ system reform. Having connectors, mavens and salesmen on your team will take you one step closer to a better educational system and hopefully a system where the needs of parties involved are met.

References

Alberta Education. (2010). Guide to Education. Retrieved from http://education.alberta.ca/media/832568/guidetoed.pdf

Gladwell, M. (2002). The Tipping Point- How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. New York, NY: Back Bay Books.