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In this episode, we’re exploring a mindset shift for when you feel like you can’t move forward because you don’t have all of the answers. If you’re feeling stuck, have a sense of imposter syndrome, or fearful of making a misstep because you (of course) don’t know everything there is to know, this episode will give you an action plan for addressing those challenges.
Why? There is a lot of research on the value and organization of learning communities pursuing a common goal, including the connections to shared leadership, ongoing data collection and analysis, and learning in partnership with one another, both from failures and successes (Harvard). John Hattie’s work has highlighted Collective Teacher Efficacy (CTE) as having the largest impact on student learning when compared with 251 other influential factors (visible-learning.org). I propose we treat not just school committees and teacher teams as learning communities (e.g., communities of practice, PLCs), but also majority-student spaces such as classrooms and student groups. How do we create a culture of learning (in pursuit of justice)? Step 1: Recognize you literally can’t do it alone. The answers to adaptive challenges lie in the community, not with you or any one person (Heifetz, Grashow, & Linsky, 2009). Step 2: Form power-sharing structures and processes. At the school level: Bring students and teachers together to lead school committees. Clarify the decision-making processes for each type of decision. For decisions that will be made collaboratively, specify the process. For example: options are created by the leadership team, shared with grade team committees, shared with all students and staff in that grade, grade-level feedback is collected by grade team committees and shared with leadership team, leadership team shares final plan for approval via consensus voting. This episode contains several concrete ideas for shared leadership at the school level. At the class level: Teachers identify regular opportunities to gather feedback from students about what’s working, what’s not, and ideas for change. This data can be specific experiences students have in class. Consider a range of modalities for how students can share this information. At the peer group level: Co-create group working agreements. Determine how decisions will be made (e.g., consensus vs. majority vote). Specify at least one time point to check in with all members about how the group is functioning and how each member is feeling. Step 3: Regularly practice inquiry cycles Ground it in a search for positive deviance (where things are going well) and experiential data, centering people and perspectives that have not been/are not being served by the current way of doing things. Step 4: Systematize experiential data collection Identify who data is collected from, in which formats, how often, and by whom. Consult Dugan and Safir’s book Street Data for some excellent ideas for implementation. This month, I reviewed several of these ideas on my YouTube channel in 5 minute videos. Step 5: Practice building skills of critical discourse. Identify when and for which topics the group avoids talking about or deflects responsibility. Name the type of discourse being discussed (Bridges Patrick & Lyons, 2022)—namely, polarizing, silencing and denying, intellectualizing, or generative mobilizing discourse. The latter is the ideal form of discourse. Final Tip No one can know it all. The best you can do is to surround yourself with brilliant people with diverse experiences who can help you and the community learn and grow. And once you create this culture, it helps address a wide range of challenges! To help you implement a culture of learning in your community, I’m sharing my Leadership Bundle with you for free. It includes my Diagnosing Adaptive Challenges Mini Workbook, a series of culture building agendas you can use for staff meetings, and my Learning Walk protocol. And, if you’re looking for more details on the ideas in this blog post, listen to episode 152 of the Time for Teachership podcast. If you’re unable to listen or you prefer to read the full episode, you can find the transcript here.
If you enjoyed this episode, check out my YouTube channel where I share my favorite facilitator moves for leading PD:
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Time for Teachership is now a proud member of the...AuthorLindsay Lyons (she/her) is an educational justice coach who works with teachers and school leaders to inspire educational innovation for racial and gender justice, design curricula grounded in student voice, and build capacity for shared leadership. Lindsay taught in NYC public schools, holds a PhD in Leadership and Change, and is the founder of the educational blog and podcast, Time for Teachership. Archives
January 2024
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