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Systems That Learn
Dr. Timothy MitchellRapid City Area Schools ASBSD/SASD 8-8-13
Systems That Learn
“Leadership and learning are indispensable to
each other”
John F. KennedyWords never spoken
Speech to be deliveredNovember 22, 1963-Dallas,TX
What will she need?
Systems That Learn
Decreasing costs and increasing student achievement can not be
opposing goals. Resource allocation needs to be part of the
solution. The hardest part is winning the support for these bold and necessary decisions.
Systems That Learn
Working smarter as a school or school system does not require a larger
school budget
Consider the following questions:
*Is there evidence that school structures based upon standardization are more effective that school structures that are differentiated based on actual student needs?
*Lastly, is there any evidence in the private or public sector that employees do not need frequent training and quality supervision throughout their career?
Systems That Learn
Systems That Learn
Consider the following questions:
*Have researchers ever shown that teacher isolation is more educationally effective strategy that teachers collaborating toward common goals?
*Is there evidence that top-down management is more effective that teacher problem-solving and leadership at all levels of the school system?
Systems That Learn
The answer to each question is “NO”.
There is no research that supports the claim that high employee
performance is based on isolation, top down management,
standardization and lack of employee training.
Systems That Learn
The Big IdeaThe learning dynamics that a teacher establishes in his/her classroom is similar to the learning dynamics a principal/instructional leader establishes in his/her school, and is similar to what a superintendent does to promote learning within the district leadership team.
Systems That Learn
Strengthening the adult learning will benefit students:
*When School Boards learn*When Central Administrators learn*When Building Administrators learn*When Schools and departments learn*When individual teachers learn
Systems That Learn
Overarching TheoryWhen a school systems learns,
continuous improvement enables educators to close
achievement gaps and ensures that all students grow and
develop as learners.
Systems That Learn
Creating team time does not guarantee improvements
Structural change is not cultural change. Simply altering the
schedule to provide time to meet does not create conditions for
learning.
Systems That Learn
“School leaders and teachers need to create schools and classroom environments in which error is
welcomed as a learning opportunity, in which discarding incorrect knowledge and understanding is welcomed, and in which teachers feel safe to learn, re-learn, and explore knowledge and
understanding”J. Hattie
Systems That Learn
What Do We Need to Do?
*Listen, listen, listen*Be willing to display fallibility*Invite participation & dissent-value open and honest communication*Reframe failures as learning opportunities
Systems That Learn
Step 1-Recognize that schools were designed in a different era and for different goals
Step 2-Start a dialogue on how to restructure schools in ways that will foster all students learning at high levels
Systems That Learn
In order to disagree, learn from mistakes, successfully manage conflict, and continually learn, the systems needs sufficient:
TrustCapacity Building for ALL
educatorsCollaboration in All directionsLeadership at all levels
Systems That Learn
Drivers that make matters worseAccountability
Promoting Individual Solutions
Technology-as an end ALLFragmented Strategies
Systems That Learn
Divers that make matters better:
Capacity BuildingGroup Solutions
Focusing on the Quality of Instruction
Integrated or Systemic Strategies
Trust
*Provide a safety net for taking risks
*It is necessary for the system to achieve beyond capacity
*Need to pay attention to the needs of the educators
Collaboration
“Without collaborative skills and relationships, it is not
possible to learn and continue to learn as much as you need to be an agent of
societal improvement”Michael Fullan
Collaboration
*Increases the overall quality of teaching
*Increases organizational sustainability
*Increases the ability to adapt and solve problems
*Builds consistency, predictability, planning and accountability
*Increases collective capacity
Collaboration
The knowledge about effective practice becomes more widely available and accessible on a
daily basis
Working together generates commitment
Collaboration
Groups solve problems at a much deeper level than
individuals
Groups will perform better than individuals working
alone
Capacity Building
*Quality teaching has a positive impact on student learning
*Teaching competencies can be taught
*Professional learning can increase teacher competencies in ways that will result in increased student learning
Capacity Building
*Feedback is a powerful means to increase student learning
*Must change the rules that influence feedback (authority roles)
*Obstacle: The inability to provide specific and honest feedback
Capacity Building
Each new hire can have a huge impact on a
school, either positive or negative
Leaders at ALL Levels
“It is no longer sufficient to have one person learning for the organization.
It’s just not possible any longer to figure it out from the top. The
organizations that will truly excel in the future will be the organizations that discover how to tap people’s
commitment and capacity to learn at all levels of the organization”
Peter Senge
Leaders at ALL Levels
Skill SetAct on their core values
Inspire confidenceBuild an inclusive network
Demonstrate sincere inquirySupport risk taking
Leaders at ALL Levels
*Good ideas can come from anywhere
*Include as many people as they can in key decisions
Leaders at ALL Levels
Ability to support leadership everywhere is one of the
key determinants of whether or not a system
will break through current limitations
Why is CHANGE so Hard?
“There is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor
more dangerous to manage than the creation of a new order of things…Whenever his enemies have the
ability to attack the innovator they do so with the passion of partisans,
while the others defend him sluggishly, so that the innovator and
his party alike are vulnerable”Niccolo
Machiavelli
Why is CHANGE so Hard?
Personal CapacityPolitical RiskPracticality
Personal RiskEmotional Impact
Social Impact
What Else can get in the Way?
*Debris Field*Too Many Initiatives*The Tyranny of or*Lack of the Four Main Drivers:
TrustCapacity Building for ALL
educatorsCollaboration in All directionsLeadership at all levels
Final Question
How do we increase educator capacity in
order to provide a more effective education for
all students in all schools?
Systems That Learn
Overarching TheoryWhen a school systems learns,
continuous improvement enables educators to close
achievement gaps and ensures that all students grow and
develop as learners.
Systems That Learn
“Leadership is about going somewhere. If you and your people don’t know
where you are going, your leadership doesn’t matter.”
Ken Blanchard
