Rerouting Our Practice
It’s summer roadtrip season. What fun! But don’t you hate that moment when your GPS vocalizes, rerouting?
I get a sinking feeling. “What? Did I miss a turn?” Sometimes I’m startled out of my reverie, lulled by the monotony of driving. Other times I was already on high alert because of unfamiliar territory. But now I’m panicking because I may have blown my chances of arriving on time.
Nobody likes that feeling. What do YOU say to yourself when you are rerouted to an alternate route? Do you welcome change? Most of us don’t. For most of us, some outside force or circumstance prompts us to deal with change. Sometimes we initiate that change and get to decide what new route to take, but often we don’t.
Let’s look at what happens in schools during rerouting — the change process. The National Academy for Academic Leadership (2016) notes that change falls into two categories:
First order change requires a new way of operating that adds a few skills to our present competencies. It means trying to do current practices in a better way. That change is reversible if we find it doesn’t produce the results we wanted. Reflective teachers initiate first order change all the time – a new way to give makeup work for absentees or a different way to include students in evaluating peer projects. These teachers welcome opportunities for rerouting.
Second order change (also called paradigm shift) requires that we learn an entirely new set of competencies. In a paradigm shift many of our previous ways of operating are irrelevant and useless. We use a new way of thinking to operate in the new situation, and once launched, we cannot return to the prior situation. In short, “change redefines proficiency” (Evans, 2015).
Spiro (2009) reminds us that this second type of change “…is about a deliberate disruption of the status quo. While the need for change will often be apparent to many or most of those affected, opposition, resistance and unanticipated consequences are all likely to emerge….Even positive change can be stressful. An effective change leader can maximize the opportunities of change while minimizing the risks.”
How could we do a better job of supporting our school community during stressful change, including ALL those impacted by the changes – teachers and staff, leaders, business partners, families, and students? When those most impacted by the change weren’t part of the planning, how do they find out about rerouting? Was it a faculty meeting announcement? an article in the PTA newsletter? minutes from a Board meeting? a speaker at a school assembly? through the grapevine? Are people informed or engaged in the change? How were they invited to buy-in?
In the past week, I’ve participated in two conferences with the recurring theme that everything is grounded in relationships. What if we forged networks grounded in strong, trusting relationships? How could we use those networks to support each other in times of change?
More than ever, this is a time for banding together as we face rerouting opportunities ahead! Maybe we could even enjoy the process!
