Summer offers all of us time for reflection. Over the past few weeks, I’ve looked back and reflected about our work over the past 12 months. Questions pondered include: What worked well? What didn’t and why didn’t it? In what ways are we building capacity, not dependency?
And, of course: How can we do things even better? Are we modeling what we promote? How can we serve more schools and districts while maintaining the quality and integrity of our work?
This reflective process reminded me of the November 2013 KAPPAN magazine article about the ABPC’s work, published about 8 months ago but written last summer around this time.
The article captures our theory of action and lessons learned. One of the most significant lessons learned happened early in the life of the ABPC: When you listen to what educators want and partner in ways that help them achieve their own well-informed goals, amazing things can happen.
We learned many more powerful lessons that I’ve captured below with an eye on the questions posed in the first paragraph of this article.
- Relationships matter. In so many ways, we ask educators to step out of their comfort zone. So we work very hard to build trusting relationships, which is critical for personal growth and dialogue. The professional learning provided is interactive and invites participants to dialogue with educators from different schools and districts. We expect those whom we serve to reflect regularly to celebrate success and to ponder challenges and devise strategies.For some, this is difficult. I was excited when a principal from a school in which we began working this year pulled me aside and said, “You know, I’m really a shy person and, at first, I didn’t like the idea of having to get up and talk with people I didn’t know. But I quickly learned that if I was going to continue to participate in ABPC events, I had to get used to it. And, you know, I’ve learned a lot and now really look forward to these meetings.”
Building trusting relationships isn’t always easy and requires courage and planning. As the IP Network expands, we continue to encourage the instructional partners to move from what Joellen Killion calls coaching “light” to coaching “heavy” – where impact can be greater.
Coaching heavy includes curriculum analysis, data analysis, instructional changes, and conversations about beliefs and how they influence practice. Asking people to participate in dialogues about these topics requires relational trust. If they don’t trust you, it won’t happen.
- Be nimble: Peter Vail reminds us that we now live in a world where there is “permanent whitewater.” We’re often faced with problems we’ve never seen before and without easy answers. And, at times, we encounter unexpected surprises and challenges. Unless we adapt to those situations, we won’t be good stewards for those with whom we work.For example, we continue to evolve the way we manage the Instructional Partners Network. We believe strongly that it is important to build capacity, not co-dependency, so we continue to give greater voice and more responsibility for managing the Network to regional and district partners. It started when we moved from one central network to five regional networks to better serve and contextualize the professional learning and support.
This coming year, we’re expanding even more and involving more partners. As an example, the AMSTI Director in the University of North Alabama region is launching a regional KLN for his area and hopes to initiate an IPN in 2015.
- Learn from each other. We approach all of our networks from a learner’s stance and we expect to learn new things from those we serve. But it doesn’t stop there. When designing professional learning, we remind ourselves that most of the knowledge is in the room. It’s our job to structure processes that provide lots of time for lateral learning and authentic dialogue among partners.One of the best examples of this lesson learned is through Instructional Rounds where teams of educators visit classrooms in schools in which we work and look for evidence of a certain practice or process. The dialogue that ensues after the data gathering – where participants identify patterns, contrasts, predictions and questions – always results in deep learning for all.
- Make the state small. Jennifer Douthit, the principal of Martin Luther King Elementary in Huntsville once observed that the ABPC helps “make the state small.” Through her involvement she was able to interact with fellow educators not only in Huntsville but all across the state. Now, three years after her memorable observation, we are struggling to “keep the state small.”As we grow, we are regionalizing, which narrows the areas from which educators are drawn and interact. One of our key goals for the coming year is to figure out how to allow for geographic breadth without having to meet in a coliseum! Any advice or suggestions?
- Stay abreast of research and best practice. We recognize that practicing educators don’t have time to read every new professional book or journal article, so we try to do that for them and synthesize the information through our professional learning design or blog entries like this one.Just yesterday I was reading a powerful book by the late Chris Argyris, the creator of the Ladder of Inferences. Argyris’ most recent book, Organizational Traps: Leadership, Culture, Organizational Design (Oxford Univ. Press, 2010), offers two behavioral models of behavior. Model 1 operates from “Defensive Reasoning.” Drivers for that model include: Be in unilateral control; Win, don’t lose; Suppress negative feelings; and Behave rationally.
Model II’s theory in use is “Productive Reasoning,” in which one: Seeks valid (testable) information; Creates informed choice; and Monitors vigilantly to detect and correct error. As I read this, I kept thinking about resistance and people inadvertently acting against their own best interest. If you’re involved in our networks, you can be sure you’ll hear more about Agryris’ work in the coming months!
- Encourage reflection. This has truly become our mantra for all of our work. Put simply, you don’t learn if you don’t reflect. Yet we are so busy in our daily lives that we often don’t take the time to slow down and think about what’s going on. That’s why we intentionally structure our professional learning to provide time for reflection, and we encourage those we serve to regularly reflect. Additionally, we try to model reflective thinking in our actions and in our writing.
- Live it. One of the most transformative books I’ve read is The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner. The book, now it its 5th edition, provides a five-part framework which includes: Model the Way; Inspire a Shared Vision; Challenge the Process; Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Heart.It’s encouraging to see so many of the thought-leaders we follow – Michael Fullan, Jim Knight, Peter Senge, Peter Block, Robert Kagan and others – suggest the same type of actions and learning. I think they are reminding us that our leadership work won’t be authentic and integrative unless we walk the walk and do it consistently.
I invite you to reflect on these seven lessons we’re learning and continue to understand more deeply. And please share your insights and suggestions with us. Specifically: In what ways can we better serve you? Are there other lessons to be learned? You can and will help make this work better!
