Learning outcomes

1. Creating Conditions for Transforming PracticeDawn Koger, PhD Susan Wit, MEd.,OTL Oakland Schools Royal Oak Schools

2. Learning outcomes • Identify conditions that facilitate change • Recognize indicators of positive collaborative relationships • Identify lessons learned and principles of transforming practice • Be familiar with attributes of meaningful professional development • Understand how changing practice changed administrators, staff, families and children

3. Change Energizes

4. Facilitating Change – Transforming Practice

5. Royal Oak Was “Ripe” for Change • Status Quo • Receptive due to dissatisfaction • Core of “higher ups” willing to support our change • Collaborative relationship with Oakland Schools

6. Sentimental Journey • The history of our change to an early intervention service delivery model aligned with current best practice. • Natural Environment • Transdisciplinary • Primary Service Provider • Routines Based • Parent Driven

7. Framework for Group Development • Form • Storm • Norm • Perform • First described in 1965, revised in 1977 by Bruce Tuckman

8. Form: Team comes together • Honeymoon period • Spirits are high; members are optimistic • Main task is to “sell” ideas and realize group’s purpose • Facilitator’s role: - A lot of direction and a little support • Help group understand charge • Engage all members • Create a non-judgmental accepting environment; • Determine how team works together, responds to pressure

9. StormTeam Conflict • Different ideas compete for consideration • Discrepancy between initial hope and reality sets in • Members start to argue or disagree • Necessary but can be contentious and unpleasant • Facilitator’s role: A lot of direction and support • Guide professional behavior to support patience, tolerance • Encourage all opinions and views to be shared • Clarify work goals, objectives and individual roles • Draw out and resolve differences • Move through…not avoid!

10. Royal Oak’s “Not So Perfect” StormIdentify the Issues • Personal • “I have to do what?” • Interpersonal • Timing of participants • Intrapersonal • Economic, Social, Union, Skill Set, Family Perceptions

11. Norm:A growing sense of togetherness • Create a mutual plan for the team with a clear purpose • Sort out personal conflicts and roles • Focus on work that needs to be done • People start to help one another and have ambition to work for team success • Facilitator’s role: A little direction and a lot of support • Step back and allow team decision making • Balance focus on people and the work • Reinforce results and maintain trust among the members • Ensure communication is effective

12. Norm: Royal Oak’s team plan • “Standard Bearer” • Intra-team selling • Team building • Team goals and mission

13. Perform:Team Reaches Optimal Performance • Team is knowledgeable, motivated, competent, autonomous • Function as a unit to get the job done effectively and with little conflict or the need for supervision • Recognizes importance of fine tuning • Facilitator’s role: A little direction and support • Remain involved but allow team to direct self • Focus on performance management and motivation

14. Perform:Royal Oak’s High Performance Team • Change to recognize a benefit • Ongoing process of fine tuning • Change is continuous • plan, do, implement • the journey is a circle • Standards drive change

15. Our Mantra: Change is not important Change is everything!

16. Why can’t they change? (Or won’t they - don’t they) Will? Motivational obstacles Hill? Environmental or procedural obstacles Skill? Lack of knowledge or abilities Adapted from Tools of the Trade by Larry Edelman, presented at the National Training Institute, March 2012

17. Skill:What “Learners” Wanted • To learn when they wanted to • What they felt they needed to • In an informal setting • With hands – on experiences • And practical assimilation

18. Skill:Professional Development Plan • Started with a needs assessment • Researched national evidenced based recommendations • Set regular times to come together outside of team time • Organized book studies, article analysis, literature reviews, online searches • Encouraged reflective practice, facilitated dialogue, debate • Facilitated skill building sessions regarding “deficit areas” • Invited team to teach others, conduct PD at other local districts, present at conferences, write and submit a journal article

19. How to Transform Your Practice (According to Royal Oak’s Early Intervention Team) • Be open to change. • Check your attitude (your ego, your assumptions) at the door. • Be prepared to have a new perspective – and willing to understand the perspective of others. • Get the support of administration. • Be flexible. • Know where you’re going. You have to have guiding principles to guide decision making. • Know that trust is essential. • Make time for team time. (There never is “enough” time.) • Know that change gets harder before it gets easier. • Be willing to admit that you don’t have all the answers. • Focus on what’s good for families and children, not necessarily what’s good for me. • Be vulnerable. Admit to your team what you don’t think you can do, what you need to know, how you need to grow. • Write it down. Create a handbook that documents journey and leads to a set of protocol/operating guidelines/procedures.

20. Remember…It almost always comes down to relationships. • Every relationship has the potential and power to enhance other associated relationships.(Gilkerson & Taylor Ritzler, in press; Weston et al, 1997) • Administrative support sets the tone for the quality of supervisor-practitionerrelationships. • Supervisory relationships can enhance practitioner-practitioner relationships and practitioner-parentrelationships. • All of these relationships, in turn, strengthen parent-child relationships. • It is through these essential interrelated relationships that we create a web of support for our young children. (Larry Edelman, 2005)

21. Change energizes (yes it bears repeating)

22. Most importantly, How have children and families changed?

23. Questions?