CHANGE LEADERSHIP by Tom Wagner and Robert Kegan Source: Change Leadership, Kegan & Wagner (2006)

CHANGE LEADERSHIPby

Tom Wagner and Robert Kegan

Source: Change Leadership, Kegan & Wagner (2006)

Introduction: Reframing the Problem

The realities of today’s economy demand not only a new set of skills but also that they be acquired by all students

Terms like fault and failure obscure a clear view of the problem and, in fact, are a part of the problem


“There is no school for leaders that will teach them how to make their district into one

that will leave no child behind.”

This challenge requires all adults to develop new skills- beginning with leaders at all levels- and to work in very different ways.


Improving Instruction

Creating a Vision of Success


Seven Disciplines for Strengthening Instruction

1. Urgency for instructional improvement using real data

2. Shared vision of good teaching 3. Meetings about the work 4. A shared vision of student results 5. Effective supervision 6. Professional development 7. Diagnostic data with accountable

collaborationSource: Change Leadership, Kegan & Wagner (2006)

Using the Seven Disciplines The seven disciplines are not a

buffet, where a district can choose one or two for implementation without regard for the others.

Although one or two may be your most logical entry point, each ultimately affects and supports the others.

Exercise 2.2 Take Stock p. 33Source: Change Leadership, Kegan & Wagner (2006)

The New 3 R’s of Instruction

1. Rigor: Mastering Core Competencies

2. Relevance: Connecting the Curriculum through Real-World Applications

3. Respectful Relationships: Finding the Key to Motivation


Linking the New 3 R’s of Instruction

The 3 R’s are an attempt to create a systemic framework for discussions of good teaching, and a framework that can produce a more complex, comprehensive understanding of instructional practice.

Each concept is dependent on the other two for the entire system to work.

Exercise 2.4 Define Rigor on a Learning Walk p.45


Committing Ourselves to the Challenge


Your commitment should meet the following criteria: It should feel as if it is genuinely true for you. It should be clear how this commitment

related directly to improved instruction. It should not yet be fully realized, plenty of

room for improvement and growth. It should implicate you, it should not be

about other people “shaping up.” It should feel important to you, as personally

valuable and powerful.


Spotting Your Obstacles Through Self-Reflection Anyone who has tried to plan for and implement

change understands the need to spend some time identifying and clarifying goals and commitments.

One of the hardest aspects of charting the change course…is identifying the ways that we might also create obstacles that get in the way of our own plans.

This self-reflection and recognition is the hardest and most powerful step in accepting one’s responsibilities as a leader.


Generating Momentum for Change

Obstacles to Improvement Versus Momentum for Improvement Reaction transforms to purpose and

focus Compliance transforms to

engagement Isolation transforms to collaboration


Reaction Transforms to Purpose and Focus Our ability to respond to children’s needs is an

indicator of our success and a source of pride. Current conditions have caused many educators

to move beyond appropriate responsiveness to a position of reaction.

The individual teacher, school or district with ten priorities has none. Without defined and focused priorities, directly connected to student instruction, there is little likelihood of raising student achievement.


Compliance Transforms to Engagement Challenging the system, or even encouraging

critical thinking, has never been a hallmark of public education.

This culture of compliance promote a degree of managerial efficiency, but it does not enable the kind of intellectual inquiry and engagement required for authentic, sustainable improvement.

Engagement requires leaders to model learning and actively express differences in views, drawing on those differences as resources for learning.


Isolation Transforms to Collaboration

Indeed, virtually every other profession in modern life has transitioned to various forms of teamwork, yet most educators still work alone.

Collaborative professionals are able to ask questions, request help, share their practice, and receive input from colleagues. Collaborative professionals do this with a belief that their questions serve a larger good.


Communities of Practice as a Strategy

Communities of practice for teachers

Leadership Practice Communities


Communities of Practice for Teachers

To be effective, teachers must have real student data to inform the conversation.

How can we possibly know that “effective practice” is truly effective unless we examine what learning occurs as a result?


Leadership Practice Communities

Also referred to as LPC’s, are necessary because: Few school principals or district personnel have

received training in how to be instructional leaders.

LPC’s provide principals with opportunities to present and discuss problems of practice related to supervising teachers

LPC’s are a strategy to create greater alignment and consistency of performance standards throughout the system.


Relating the Parts to the Whole

A system is a “perceived whole whose elements ‘hang together’ because they continually affect each other over time and operate toward a common purpose.”

Systems thinking is about trying to keep the “whole” in mind, even while working on the various parts.

More ecological than logical


Arenas of Change: 4 C’s

Competencies Conditions Culture Context


Competencies Defined as: the repertoire of skills and

knowledge that influences student learning

Teachers at every level of the system need to develop competencies regularly through ongoing development opportunities.

Competencies are most effectively built when professional development is focused, job-embedded, continuous, constructed, and collaborative.


Conditions Defined as: the external architecture surrounding

student learning, the tangible arrangements of time, space and resources.

Examples:Time spent with and for kids, with colleagues,

parents, communityExplicit expectations around roles and

responsibilities, student outcomes tied to assessments, laws and policies, contracts

Scale and Structure


Conditions contd.

Conditions represent the visible arrangements and allocations of time, space and money.


Culture Defined as: the shared values, beliefs,

assumptions, expectations, and behaviors related to students and learning, teachers and teaching, instructional leadership, and the quality of relationships within and beyond the school.

Culture refers to the invisible but powerful meanings and mindsets held individually and collectively throughout the system.


Context Defined as: the “skill demands” all students

must meet to succeed as providers, learners, and citizens and the particular aspirations, needs, and concerns of the families and community that the school or district serves.

Context also refers to the larger organizational systems within which we work, and their demands and expectations, formal and informal.


The Individual as a Complex System

The tendency we have to see only parts of the organization applies to us as individuals , too.

As individuals we can also be inclined to pay attention to particular parts of ourselves more than others.


Working Strategically

Phases of Whole System Change: Preparing-plan for the changes

ahead Envisioning- expanding the

understanding and urgency for change

Enacting- improving instruction is primary priority


“Data are employed creatively, compellingly, and strategically to focus

the community’s attention on the children who are at

the heart of the work”


Overturning your immunities to change

Steps toward individual change:◊Design the metrics to identify costs and

progress◊Observe the Big Assumption in action◊Stay alert to challenge to the Big Assumption◊Write the biography of the Big Assumption◊Design a test of your Big Assumption◊Run the Test◊Develop new designs and new tests


Bringing the Outward and Inward Focus Together

We must hold high expectations for all students

Building and Central Office Administration need to get more involved in instruction

If we have many improvement priorities, we actually have none


Conclusion contd. We must foster a widespread feeling

of urgency for change We need a leader that is invested in

helping the group create shared knowledge

We need an administrative team that can run a school and lead an improvement process.


“If we, as leaders, deny ourselves the opportunity to “grow on the job,” how likely is it that those around us, those who work for us, are going to feel genuinely entitled to this same right themselves?”


Documents

CHANGE LEADERSHIP by Tom Wagner and Robert Kegan Source: Change Leadership, Kegan & Wagner (2006)