Tami Brass's List: 21st Century Schools

• 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.
• 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.
• 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)
• 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.
• 2. Start at the Top
• 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.
• 3. Everyone is a Player in the Change Game
• 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 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
• Ownership is often best created by involving people in identifying potential problems and crafting solutions- which happens naturally in a community of practice.
• 6. Communicate and Often
• 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.
• 7. Know Your Culture and Predict Possible Impact
• making it critically important that leaders understand and account for culture and behaviors at each level.
• 8. Expect the Unexpected
• 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.
• 9. As the Individual Grows so Will the Collective Wisdom of the Community
• 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."

  • Reminds me of my former principal - Tom LeCloux
  Add Sticky Note
• But in the 21st Century, bottom line is that relationships are all that matter.

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