A New Way of Working

In my efforts to think through the role of schools and educators in preparing learners for the world they will be operating in very soon, I read a lot. I came accross this piece through a website on diversity in the twenty first century -a passion of mine as 'globlized' is here.  The students we teach today will be working in new ways that we are just beginning to glimpse.

Communities of the Future 

by Howard Ross

Systems thinking is the process of understanding how things influence one another within a whole. In nature, systems thinking examples include ecosystems in which various elements such as air, water, movement, plants, and animals work together to survive or perish. In organizations, systems consist of people, structures, and processes that work together to make an organization healthy or unhealthy.

Systems Thinking has been defined as an approach to problem solving, by viewing "problems" as parts of an overall system, rather than reacting to specific part, outcomes or events and potentially contributing to further development of unintended consequences. I is not one thing but a set of habits or practices within a framework that is based on the belief that the component parts of a system can best be understood in the context of relationships with each other and with other systems, rather than in isolation. Systems thinking focuses on cyclical rather than linear cause and effect. Wikepedia

• Collective Stress – created by both the prolonged economic crisis and tension in the world about security.

• Technology – now allows us to transmit information faster, broader, and deeper than ever before. Across our current technology tens of millions of people can be mobilized within days, hours or even minutes. Now in one push of the button, a viral message can be transmitted to the world (“Rally at Tahrir Square at noon!!”) over the Internet, through Facebook, by Twitter or by whatever new communication technology will be invented and be in use by the time this blog is two days old!

• Information – which supported by technology, is disseminated faster and broader, and deeper and, as in the case of WikiLeaks, respecting very few boundaries of privacy or secrecy.

• Globalism – An increasingly greater sense of ourselves as interconnected world citizens, impacted by what’s going on in other places that used to feel much farther away. The whole world is watching. In some cases we welcome that connection, in some cases we try to resist it (as when we attempt to “wall off” our country to immigrants), but either way it looms large in our consciousness.

• Media and Communication – which now constantly blares at us, and, even more significantly pre-sorts the news we see.

• Generational Shifts – that have produced younger people, who are inherently more diverse, more informed, more connected, more independent in their thinking, and more prone to think of themselves as global citizens.

At the nexus of all of these trends we find a world in which people are increasingly less likely to defer to the power of authority figures to tell them what to do. Today people are more likely to instantly react and respond, more likely to find like-minded souls to respond with, and less likely to be “patient” about waiting for change.

What does this say about the organizations and communities of the future? The same energy that can inspire us when it coalesces to create positive change can also create anarchy. Imagine, if we were to shift –- as some have suggested and as is now technologically possible –- to a system in which citizens directly vote on legislation, rather than go through elected officials. An exciting prospect if one believes in “government by the people.” Yet, how informed might they be? How susceptible to the kind of demagoguery we have consistently been seeing? How likely for a majority to dominate a minority?

For those of us in leadership positions, it calls for a significant reinvention of how we go about leading. It requires constantly giving up control and encouraging autonomy. It requires recognizing that the people we are leading may know more, more often, about more things than we ever have experienced. It means that the “command and control” structures of leadership we have been mostly raised to admire must be replaced with more inclusive forms of stewardship, in which the role of the leader is one of facilitation even more than directing.

We have an opportunity to learn to create a greater sense of Organizational Community within our businesses, schools, community structures, and governmental institutions. A true appreciation of the interconnectedness of the various stakeholder groups that we interact with, and a greater sense of inclusiveness so that all people can contribute to the greater good. More and more people, including some of the clients we’re working with, are proving that these kinds of organizations can thrive, even while others are struggling.

The world will not be “quieting down.” In fact, it is likely to continue to become more chaotic. Those of us who lead organizations and governments will have a hard time letting go of our habitual ways of leading and interacting. Some of us may fall to the wayside. Some of our organizations and governments may do the same.

But those who survive will have to decide how we manage that chaos. Do we fight against it and create upheaval and more conflict, or do we take more of an Aikido approach, creating “chaordic” structures that provide just enough order around the chaos to keep us focused on the needs of the future. How well will we be able to internalize the revolution that is happening outside of us?

It is not too grandiose to say that the fate of humanity may rest in the answer to that question.

Anything Is Possible website

Feeling Safe

The other day I was spending time with my grandson per our usual family routine.  In these moments we often talk about how kindergarten is going and his new friends.  This particular time, we began exploring how we know if someone is a friend.  We decided that a friend likes to spend time together and likes to play cooperatively.  Together, we acknowledged that sometimes it can be hard to figure out and that it is good to play with everybody and see how friendship grows.

The exchange reminded me of a piece I read about a conversation with a four or five year old about how you know if somebody loves you.  People can say that they care for you but how do you really know?  Apparently, this child mulled that over and revealed that he could tell that he was loved by someone from the way they said his name.  When asked to say more about what he meant.  He said there is a feeling he gets when someone who loves him speaks his name that he just feels inside.  He described it as a feeling of warmth.  Then he paused and added that when someone who loves you says your name out loud your name is safe in their mouth.  

I have to confess that I was awed by that notion. My thoughts as an educator have returned to our conversation more than a few times as I weigh community building in schools. For children to be able to trust in their community is not a small thing – it is a deep and important thing. I believe most of us as adults recognize that when this is not present in community, one might hesitate before venturing somewhere one needs to go, accomplish less than one is destined to create. ‘We do our learning and our business at the speed of our … distrust.’

I hope that students who interact with me feel at all times comfortable in my presence and that their name is ‘safe in my mouth’.

Essential Adolescent Needs

The elementary experience in a progressive school is never more vital than when students reach the culminating years 5-8.  This is an amazing period of growth and development punctuated by what is important to these learners developmentally:

Relationship: To connect with others.

Autonomy: To be independent.

Competence: To do well in school, and to feel like a worthwhile, significant person.

Engagment: To have a good time and to feel learning is fun.

Fifth to Eighth grade years are a period of dynamic physical change in the life of a student. They are also the threshold to a greater capacity to think conceptually, which is indelibly linked to an abundant curiosity about life, the world, and peers. Students are preoccupied with ‘the self’ and wrestling with self-doubt.  Students at this stage of their development are more connected to what is happening ‘out there’ than at home but also critically need familial support. It is crucial that the learning environment encompass the academic and social needs of these learners. Teaching the whole child remains essential to academic growth.  Learning is enhanced by social and emotional realities.  Active and interactive learning needs to be relevant to student interests and needs.

In their classes, students get to know each other, have the chance to do meaningful work, and to share and to reflect on that work afterwards. Students ask and answer open-ended questions. Students regularly help to design and to make choices in their work. There is a balance between teacher-orchestrated lessons and independent and group work on skills and projects. This strategy results in a rigorous work day designed to optimize opportunities for growth and success.

In their social interactions at school, these students are exploring new freedoms. It is important that the school environment creates space for mistakes as a natural and healthy part of learning. Mistakes are an intentional part of our learning curve and should be navigated in a respectful way that teaches children from 'their' place of experience. The aim is to clarify what is expected, provide a chance to repair, safeguard safety and relationship, practice new habits, and nurture the integrity of the mistake maker.

When these essential components of what a fifth to eighth grader needs are woven into their daily school experience, middle school students have the opportunity to thrive.

A Recent Good Read

The Power of Pull: How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion

John Hagel III (Author), John Seely Brown (Author), Lang Davison (Author

“The Power of Pull,” suggests that we are at the start of a “Big Shift,” precipitated by the meshing of globalization and the Information Digital Revolution. At this stage, we experience this Big Shift as expanding pressure, weakening performance and increasing stress because the systems and practices we function with are progressively more dysfunctional.

At the same time, the Big Shift also permits a exponential global flow of ideas, innovations, new collaborative potential and new market prospects. This surge is rich and fast. Today, this book argues, ‘tapping the global flow becomes the key to productivity, growth and prosperity. But to tap this flow effectively, every country, company and individual needs to be constantly growing their talents.’

“We are living in a world where flow will prevail and topple any obstacles in its way,” says Hagel. “As flow gains momentum, it undermines the precious knowledge stocks that in the past gave us security and wealth. It calls on us to learn faster by working together and to pull out of ourselves more of our true potential, both individually and collectively. It excites us with the possibilities that can only be realized by participating in a broader range of flows. That is the essence of the Big Shift.”

So once again we read and consider the need to constantly upgrade education and as educators, we are left to ponder how effectively we are preparing our students for 'cutting it' or thriving in this new world of opportunity. How do we help them learn faster and work with others to achieve their true potential? How do we enhance the student’s learning experience for a world where ‘skills and dispositions’ will be more important than “knowledge stocks”?

Passion and Purpose

It happened again the other day.  I had an exchange with a middle school student about a new idea and found the student initially challenging the concept simply as it represented a departure from what used to be.  The encounter left me pondering how we meet students where they are developmentally and stretch their understanding through open dialogue. How do we move a student deeper into the learning process in these teachable – learnable moments connecting them to real passion as it informs true purpose?

There are real learning experiences that truly shift the way we think and innovate. The drive to think independently certainly requires that from the earliest years we instill the attitudes of confidence and imaginative thinking in our students.  The development of personal confidence allows a student to identify, nurture and develop the inner voice so necessary to pursuing one’s true passions.  It also creates the space needed to prevent the outside opinions of  ‘others’ or’ the status quo’ from squelching one’s vision and creative inspiration for a new way of approaching things.

Progressive schools encourage students to enjoy living in the world of ideas, to be curious and to think independently.   Conversations unfold repeatedly throughout the day  in cooperative groups or larger class discussions where teachers and students commonly inquire, "What do you think?" or interject, "But, I have another idea." ,or ask,  "What are other ways to solve this problem?" ,"Why did you choose to solve the problem this way?",  "Perhaps there is not only one right answer to this question.".  These exercises in exploring and considering what we know and how we know it generate habits of mind that support creativity and allow students to evolve beyond the walls of any classroom intellectually.

This is the essence of critical thinking.  Examining and incorporating diverse perspectives and pushing the limits of our ability to hold alternative viewpoints.  As we listen carefully to other ideas and stories, we are more fascinated by the world around us, and that attitude of engagement supports confidence in distinctive points of view and encourages us to do the hard work requisite to our best thinking, best editing, or best searching for the depths of our learning.

Returning to my moment with the middle school student, I extended opportunity for deeper dialogue inviting the student to take pride in the formation of ideas and joy and passion in expressing them.   Together we work to ensure that imaginative thinking, ripe with ingenuity and the problem-solving skills critical to our world, takes precedence over the simple adolescent behavior of questioning others on superficial levels.

Old Guard – Can’t Live with Them; Can’t Live without Them

I recently spent some time with friends from other independent schools.  As we compared and contrasted our stories from the field, we noticed that as a whole we saw drawbacks and advantages to the teachers in our schools who have been there for more than ten years.  We reckoned that ten years was the turning point for staff in assuming the title and role of old guard.  

So, exactly what are the advantages of the old guard?  Well, most schools view the presence of teachers with tenure as a reflection of stability and excellence.  They have clout with parents and alumni, and the years of experience in the school and education that provide and lend credibility to the school’s mission and forward momentum. Part of the stability they offer seems to include protecting the school from too much unbidden change. 

The drawbacks turn out to be the flip side of the same coin. In other words, tenure and stability can be the pillars of resistance to change and intentionally or inadvertently, impede the progress of less tenured teachers, in some cases, driving them away.  We all agreed that the tone this usually takes is best summarized by – “we tried that before” – sometimes followed by it did not work – most times, just offered as a good reason not to innovate.  This tone, while intended to be protective of the status quo, actually can lead to new blood in the school feeling rejected and alienated.  

The stories from the field that we shared all included painful exchanges between one of us as a newcomer and someone tenured in the school.  In most instances we agreed that this felt a bit like receiving free advice or instruction on who we need to be to acclimate and fit into the culture of the school. 

As we concluded our exchange about this, we recognized that while tenured staff members are precious, without strong guidance from the school’s leadership, they can derail forward momentum.  We then went on to speculate about how a school climate or culture might evolve in ways that minimize these trends in school community by inviting all of us to be creative and innovative and to gently hold us accountable in collaborating to make education in our schools the best it can be.

Hold Each Other Up

I keep an 'ideas'  file among my many documents.  I like to sift through things I have read or that I have come accross, here and there, that inspire me.  Sometimes, I am able to attribute the origin of the thought to its actual author, sometimes, as on this occasion, not.  I came accross this reflection/recommendation about stewarding the young and resonated with it deeply and meaningfully.

As I prepare to do my daily work, I find this concept of cultivating our youth an inspiring notion.  I am uplifted to be reminded of the authentic, 'real value' added of philanthropic work in schools.  I am newly committed to cultivating and stewarding our youth as they grow and learn how to assume responsibility for the steward's role in society and indeed, the world.

Help the young learn to take care of themselves daily. Help them learn to harness their curiosity and creativity. Let them sleep each night. Let them eat healthy food. Let them explore the world, and the world of ideas, each day. Let them come to understand both the importance of and the immense challenge of balancing their individual lives with the broader needs of humanity. Let them know they are loved. Let them read. Let them play. Let them make mistakes and learn from them. Let them come to see that work can be deeply fulfilling at any age — if approached with the right understanding of work's purpose. And let them learn to stay in touch — to care for and support family and friends and to be engaged members of their communities with a deep appreciation for the myriad ways community members hold each other up and connect across the globe.