*Consider your own school's culture. How does your school promote a positive school culture for teaching and learning that is inclusive of all students?
*Based on your understanding of the Marzano reading, how could you apply Marzano's research on first and second order change to improve your present school culture?
This week has been a family lesson in how change is challenging, even at the smallest levels. My oldest son has played football for 3 years and was about to begin his senior year on the team this week. Only one problem, he hates football. Yet leaving the team, changing the pattern, was a far more difficult process than imagined (and its not clear yet what the answer is). He knew he wanted to quit and had very good reason, but how to inform the captains (who he also wrestles with), the coach, and most importantly, his father who wants him to play. These were all parameters that were important to consider and respect; and required him to communicate his feelings. My daughter went through a similar process, except she is leaving her dance company for good reasons, doing less dance elsewhere and adding in other activities. Yet, both kids, despite knowing that their decisions were right, felt unsure and scared of the unknown or if they would regret it later. This drama over the past few days, which I needed to spend considerable time on talking to both kids about as they weighed their options, highlighted just how difficult and challenging change can be. Magnify the idea to encompass a school or district and it’s easy to see how difficult it is to support all the stakeholders in the change process.
As I get ready to return to work, I’ve reflected on the challenging year my school had last year managing change. The school was struggling financially just a few years ago and in response, added the IB program and committed to changing the culture from a laid back nurturing Montessori school popular with elementary age parents to an academically rigorous program using IB PYP and MYP (still including Montessori). This qualifies as second order change using numerous factors from Marzano’s (2005) responsibilities of a leader. Specifically, the change to IB affects all 7 of the factors most related to 2nd order change (Marzano, 2005). The curriculum has completely changed as well as the instruction of the material and assessment, how the work is monitored, and how well the teachers are knowledgeable about IB, research and theory behind it.
While this new innovation using IB can provide spectacular results, change of this magnitude impacts several factors negatively including school culture (Marzano, 2005), which for my school has been significant. Last year, there were several directives to incorporate IB requirements without the staff having time to talk about how to do this leading many to be frustrated, which led students to be unsure of what to do. Most of what was asked to implement too many new ideas from the new Approaches to Learning reflection to how to grade using the IB number system, to developing rubrics according to the IB subject guides were overwhelming and implementation suffered, a common occurrence according to Fullan (2007). Part of the problem is that the school decided to change to the IB program and then, within 2 intense years, finished the work to receive their accreditation. Several teachers who were key in creating these documents were burned out and left, resulting in a slew of new hires, like me, without the historical reference for what had happened (SEDL, 2011). The school was eager to change and do it quickly, not understanding fully that change is a process filled with uncertainty (Fullan, nd). Last year was the first year putting the new units in place and the process was challenging resulting in staff frustration because they didn’t feel supported or appreciated and the units being implemented were so rushed in the initial design that they didn’t always succeed when implemented (SEDL, 2011; Fullan, 2007).
While the changes in place are a positive step for the school overall; as a result, the school is on solid financial ground and has already become a more competitive school to be accepted at, I feel that the school needs to slow down the pace of the change process to help staff and students internalize the new ideas from the IB program creating a common language for learning that has meaning for the school (SEDL, 2011). While this large second order changes occur, an improvement in the culture would be affected if the leaders considered improving other factors with first degree changes such as contingent rewards to help staff feel appreciated, focus to keep new ideas to a minimal while the schools adapts to the implementation of IB, and optimizer to keep the tone positive and help teachers strive to learn and implement the new ideas (Marzano, 2005).
Being a Montessori school, what is most impressive about the school culture is the level of acceptance of a wide range of diverse students and staff. This aspect of the school creates a wonderful and supportive environment. Because the school is private, students’ needs are attended to on a very individual basis and additional support for struggling learners is available. However, as the school becomes more competitive, the students accepted to the school are high achieving students driven to succeed and students with learning disabilities will not be accepted as often. This is the case with other exclusive private schools in the community. This change, which is just beginning, will have an impact on the school culture as the population of students change.
I discovered the complicated nature of change with my family this week so I can appreciate the complexity of what is being attempted at my school and as such, challenges and teacher frustration are to be expected, but more can be done to effectively manage the process and allowing for it happen in a way that builds a common vision for the school.
Fullan, M. (Ed.). (2007). The Jossey-Bass reader on educational leadership Second edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Fullan, M. (nd). Eight basic lessons of the new paradigm for change [Slides]. United States: Johns Hopkins University.
Marzano, R., Waters, T., McNulty, B. (2005). School leadership that works: from research to results. San Francisco: Alexandria, ASCD.
Southwest Educational Development Library (SEDL). (2001). School context: Bridge or barrier to change: School culture. Retrieved on August 22, 2011 from: http://www.sedl.org/change/school/culture.html
