Systems That Learn

1. Dr. Timothy Mitchell Rapid City Area Schools ASBSD/SASD 8-8-13 Systems That Learn

2. Systems That Learn “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other” John F. Kennedy Words never spoken Speech to be delivered November 22, 1963-Dallas,TX

3. Contact Information tim.mitchell@k12.sd.us www.rcas.org

4. What will she need?

5. Systems That Learn Decreasing costs and increasing student achievement can not be opposing goals. Resource allocation needs to be part of the solution. The hardest part is winning the support for these bold and necessary decisions.

6. Systems That Learn Working smarter as a school or school system does not require a larger school budget

7. Systems That Learn Consider the following questions: *Is there evidence that school structures based upon standardization are more effective that school structures that are differentiated based on actual student needs? *Lastly, is there any evidence in the private or public sector that employees do not need frequent training and quality supervision throughout their career?

8. Systems That Learn Consider the following questions: *Have researchers ever shown that teacher isolation is more educationally effective strategy that teachers collaborating toward common goals? *Is there evidence that top-down management is more effective that teacher problem-solving and leadership at all levels of the school system?

9. Systems That Learn The answer to each question is “NO”. There is no research that supports the claim that high employee performance is based on isolation, top down management, standardization and lack of employee training.

10. Systems That Learn The Big Idea The learning dynamics that a teacher establishes in his/her classroom is similar to the learning dynamics a principal/instructional leader establishes in his/her school, and is similar to what a superintendent does to promote learning within the district leadership team.

11. Systems That Learn Strengthening the adult learning will benefit students: *When School Boards learn *When Central Administrators learn *When Building Administrators learn *When Schools and departments learn *When individual teachers learn

12. Systems That Learn Overarching Theory When a school systems learns, continuous improvement enables educators to close achievement gaps and ensures that all students grow and develop as learners.

13. Systems That Learn Creating team time does not guarantee improvements Structural change is not cultural change. Simply altering the schedule to provide time to meet does not create conditions for learning.

14. Systems That Learn “School leaders and teachers need to create schools and classroom environments in which error is welcomed as a learning opportunity, in which discarding incorrect knowledge and understanding is welcomed, and in which teachers feel safe to learn, re-learn, and explore knowledge and understanding” J. Hattie

15. Systems That Learn What Do We Need to Do? *Listen, listen, listen *Be willing to display fallibility *Invite participation & dissent-value open and honest communication *Reframe failures as learning opportunities

16. Systems That Learn Step 1-Recognize that schools were designed in a different era and for different goals Step 2-Start a dialogue on how to restructure schools in ways that will foster all students learning at high levels

17. Systems That Learn In order to disagree, learn from mistakes, successfully manage conflict, and continually learn, the systems needs sufficient: Trust Capacity Building for ALL educators Collaboration in All directions Leadership at all levels

18. Systems That Learn Drivers that make matters worse Accountability Promoting Individual Solutions Technology-as an end ALL Fragmented Strategies

19. Systems That Learn Divers that make matters better: Capacity Building Group Solutions Focusing on the Quality of Instruction Integrated or Systemic Strategies

20. Trust *Provide a safety net for taking risks *It is necessary for the system to achieve beyond capacity *Need to pay attention to the needs of the educators

21. Collaboration “Without collaborative skills and relationships, it is not possible to learn and continue to learn as much as you need to be an agent of societal improvement” Michael Fullan

22. Collaboration *Increases the overall quality of teaching *Increases organizational sustainability *Increases the ability to adapt and solve problems *Builds consistency, predictability, planning and accountability *Increases collective capacity

23. Collaboration The knowledge about effective practice becomes more widely available and accessible on a daily basis Working together generates commitment

24. Collaboration Groups solve problems at a much deeper level than individuals Groups will perform better than individuals working alone

25. Capacity Building *Quality teaching has a positive impact on student learning *Teaching competencies can be taught *Professional learning can increase teacher competencies in ways that will result in increased student learning

26. Capacity Building *Feedback is a powerful means to increase student learning *Must change the rules that influence feedback (authority roles) *Obstacle: The inability to provide specific and honest feedback

27. Capacity Building Each new hire can have a huge impact on a school, either positive or negative

28. Leaders at ALL Levels “It is no longer sufficient to have one person learning for the organization. It’s just not possible any longer to figure it out from the top. The organizations that will truly excel in the future will be the organizations that discover how to tap people’s commitment and capacity to learn at all levels of the organization” Peter Senge

29. Leaders at ALL Levels Skill Set Act on their core values Inspire confidence Build an inclusive network Demonstrate sincere inquiry Support risk taking

30. Leaders at ALL Levels *Good ideas can come from anywhere *Include as many people as they can in key decisions

31. Leaders at ALL Levels Ability to support leadership everywhere is one of the key determinants of whether or not a system will break through current limitations

32. Why is CHANGE so Hard? “There is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than the creation of a new order of things…Whenever his enemies have the ability to attack the innovator they do so with the passion of partisans, while the others defend him sluggishly, so that the innovator and his party alike are vulnerable” Niccolo Machiavelli

33. Why is CHANGE so Hard? Personal Capacity Political Risk Practicality Personal Risk Emotional Impact Social Impact

34. What Else can get in the Way? *Debris Field *Too Many Initiatives *The Tyranny of or *Lack of the Four Main Drivers: Trust Capacity Building for ALL educators Collaboration in All directions Leadership at all levels

35. Final Question How do we increase educator capacity in order to provide a more effective education for all students in all schools?

36. Systems That Learn Overarching Theory When a school systems learns, continuous improvement enables educators to close achievement gaps and ensures that all students grow and develop as learners.

38. Systems That Learn “Leadership is about going somewhere. If you and your people don’t know where you are going, your leadership doesn’t matter.” Ken Blanchard