School Leaders' Reflective Blogs Inspire Systemic Change: A Narrative Inquiry

1. School Leaders' Reflective Blogs Inspire Systemic Change: A Narrative Inquiry

2. Research Team • Rita J. Hartman, Ed.D., University of Phoenix • Cheryl Burleigh, Ed.D., University of Phoenix • James Lane, Ed.D., University of Phoenix

3. Introduction Educators must spend time gaining knowledge inside their schools and through their students’ learning experiences to transcend centralized decision making and implement systematic change. (Laici & Orlandini, 2016) Using the insights and knowledge acquired by implementing “hacks”, school leaders may gain a better understanding of how to systematically improve the school culture increasing student satisfaction and student academic achievement.

4. Problem Reform efforts focused on high-stakes testing, and top-down remedies, have little or no effect in generating positive, systemic change, reinforcing the need for an alternative approach to school improvement. (Bower & Parsons, 2016; Laici & Orlandini, 2016; Rose, 2015; Morante-Brock, 2014)

5. Purpose The purpose of the narrative inquiry was to explore and describe the stories of school leaders who implemented hacks (small innovations) within their schools to gain a deeper understanding of the change process within a school environment.

6. Shadow A Student Challenge Is an international movement to drive school change as a result of the understandings and reflections shared by school leaders who follow a student from the beginning of their day to the end of their day. (shadowastudent.org)

7. Research Question What changes did school leaders employ at their school site based on their empathic observations of student daily experiences?

8. Significance of the Study This study may provide school leaders with a deeper understanding of the importance of being empathetic to student needs and the importance of including systems thinking and change to improve the students’ learning environment.

9. Theoretical Framework/Literature Review Empathetic Design – meaning through personal experience (Carmel-Gilfilen & Portillo, 2016; Daniel, 2015; Eslamifar, 2014) School Cultural – organizational integrity, ethical practices, cultural responsive teaching and learning (Khalifa, Gooden, & Davis, 2016; Kilicoglu, 2017). Systems Thinking –interrelationships producing a dynamic system (KoralKordova, Frank, & Nissel Miller, 2018).

10. Method and Design This study used a narrative inquiry approach to understand and portray the leaders’ stories. The study involved an in-depth exploration of school leaders’ stories, gaining a deeper understanding of their worlds. (Riessman & Speedy, 2018)

11. Method and Design Following phone interviews of five school leaders, the process of inductive, thematic coding was applied to analyze the transcripts of their stories to gain insights into their experiences implementing a hack. (Riessman, 2008)

12. Sample Two men and three women School leaders – 1 superintendent, 1 high school principal, 1 middle school principal, 2 elementary school principals

13. Participants Narrative Summaries A pseudonym was given to each participant to protect their identity.

14. Mary – School Superintendent Shadowed a high school student Students traveling between schools – disruptive schedule, redesigned the schedule to meet the student needs Shadowed a third grader with reading problems, implemented a corrective reading program Required administrators and teachers to Shadow a Student

15. Stanley – Middle School Principal He saw the need to be more developmentally responsive to the needs of students Reenergized the advisory base program focusing on forging personal connections with students

16. Beth – Elementary Principal Shadowed a student with special needs Observed how disruptive the day was for special needs students and realized how much they wanted to be treated like other students Initiated a co-teaching model with special needs teachers and classroom teachers working together in the classroom

17. Trevor – High School Principal Became aware of the stress students feel with push towards academic achievement, state testing, and a rigorous school schedule Implemented 45 minute relaxation time once a month Encouraged teachers to use active student-led learning activities Added project-based real-life learning courses in the fall schedule

18. Laura – Elementary School Principal International school in Southeast Asia Promoted open door policy Encouraged communication among the teachers Arranged for 90 minute collaborative planning session for teachers within the school day

19. Dominant Theme – School Culture Each participant affected the culture of his or her work environment intellectually, emotionally, and physically through the implementation of a “hack.”

20. Subthemes Nurturing Awareness Building Relationships Enacting Change

21. Nurturing Awareness Reflection, Awareness, Empathy School leaders reflected inwards to consider enacting change “How could this be happening? How could we be sitting here allowing this? What are we going to do about it?” “When the butt gets numb, the brain gets dumb.”

22. Building Relationships Communication, Feedback, Collaboration, Empowerment “Teachers are communicating with each other, where in the past they did not engage with the rest of the staff.” “People talk about that they want to be a part of something that is innovative and makes sense for our students.”

23. Enacting Change Changes in infrastructures and in mindsets “People love our culture, but at the same time if there are opportunities that are more engaging and make more sense for students, they are going to start to look at those.” “The art of the walkthrough has changed quite a bit. I am now asked to cover classes to allow teachers the freedom to get out and see other classes which is, I guess, a huge, shift in the culture of the school.”

24. Findings Systems thinking used to implement changes within schools based on school leaders’ observations inspired systemic change which may contribute to a broader district and county-wide improvements to student learning.

25. Discussion School leaders who use a wider perspective, look deeper, and think systemically will ask questions with a broader perspective and thus understand the student-self. (Goldman & Senge, 2014; Moses, n.d.) Change is most effective when the culture of the school has transformed so that it endures beyond the specific personalities of the school leaders.

26. Recommendations Educators and school leaders can benefit by viewing the school experience from the student’s perspective and using the insights and knowledge gained to create hacks or small innovations, leading to a positive shift in the school culture and the values and beliefs permeated throughout the school.

27. Contributions The findings of this study may provide school leaders with a deeper understanding of the importance of being empathetic to student needs and the importance of including systems thinking and change to improve the students’ learning environment.

28. Researchers’ Reflections Innovation initiated by an inspired school leader, lived the day as a student, gained empathy for students’ experiences, and found the resources to generate positive Interesting to revisit the schools over the next few years to observe how the various innovations have been maintained and supported with resources of energy, time, and money.

29. Strong take home message Being empathetic to the students’ school experiences can provide school leaders with the motivation to initiate innovative change and increase educational sustainability for future generations.

30. References Bower, H. A., Parsons, E. R., & Carlton. (2016). Teacher identity and reform: Intersections within school culture. The Urban Review, 48(5), 743-765. Carmel-Gilfilen, C., & Portillo, M. (2016). Designing with empathy. HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 9(2), 130-146. doi:.1177/1937586715592633 Daniel, S. M. (2015). Empathetic, critical integrations of multiple perspectives: A core practice for language teacher education? TESOL Journal, 6(1), 149-176. Eslamifar, A. (2014). A tool for empathetic user experience design (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (1570448). Khalifa, M. A., Gooden, M. A., & Davis, J. E. (2016). Culturally responsive school leadership: A synthesis of the literature. Review of Educational Research, 86(4), 1272-1311. doi:10.3102/0034654316630383 Kolko, J. (2010). Abductive thinking and sensemaking: The drivers of design synthesis. Design Issues, 26(1), 15-28. doi:10.1162/desi.2010.26.1.15

31. References continued KoralKordova, S., Frank, M., & Nissel Miller, A. (2018). Systems thinking Education—Seeing the forest through the trees. Systems, 6(3), 29. doi:10.3390/systems6030029 Laici, C., & Orlandini, L. (2016). Avanguardie educative: Paths of innovation for schools. Research on Education and Media, 8(1), 53-61. doi:10.1515/rem-2016- 0007 Morante-Brock, S. (2014). The common core state standards: School reform at threesuburban middle schools (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. (3610426) Rose, M. (2015, December 10). School reform fails the test. Retrieved from https://theamericanscholar.org/school-reform- fails-the-test/#.WfkRhGhSzIU

32. References continued