Turning Outward:Building Emotional

AttachmentJohn Creighton

Colorado Association of School ExecutivesFebruary 2, 2012

Slideshare.net/johncr8on

Common School Debates

•Student achievement: How do we elevate student performance?

•Market based education: Will market forces compel schools to do better?

•School funding: How much is enough? How can we convince people to pay more tax?

American’s Top Priorities(a sample)

Pew Research Center

Seldom Discussed

•How do we rebuild a deep emotional attachment to public schools?

•How do we restore education to the hallowed place it once held in communities?

•How, once again, do we make education the work of, by and for our communities?

DonkeyHotey (Flickr)

What about the Money?

What are your expectations?

What would lead you to trust more?

• Provide good service at a low/fair price – get the job done with minimal taxes

• Produce measurable results – “run like a business”

• Eliminate waste, fraud and abuse – show us how you spend the money

• Be transparent and accountable – e.g. online check register

Rational Loyalty

versus

Emotional Attachment

Downside of Rational Loyalty

Reinforces consumer mindset and growing perception that public

education is a commercial enterprise.

Les Chatfield Wikimedia

Tell me stories about an organization you would try to save?

• Place where I feel welcome; I can gather with friends.

• Organization that makes me proud; I like to brag about it.

• Respectful, fair and trustworthy.

• Actions prove it cares about me and my community.

• I can do work for the organization (as opposed to doing the organization’s work).

• I have some influence over the organization – my voice matters.

• Good memories; part of my identity and community fabric.

Factors & Trends that Erode Emotional Attachment

• Commercialization of education

• Shift from governors to consumers

• Decline of young families

• Disengaged taxpayers

• New expectations for institutions

• It’s all about us

Commercialization of Education

Master narratives

• Public schools are failing

• Market practices will fix them

• Parents and students should vote with their feet

Shift from Governors to Consumers of Education

1952

160 million people

>67,000 school districts

2007

301 million people

<14,000 school districts

U.S. Census Bureau

Decline of Young Families

% Households

with Children Under 18

% Single Parent

Families

1957 47% 9%

2010 30% 30%

U.S. Census Bureau

Decline of Young FamiliesColorado Is Aging

Source: Colorado Demographer’s Office

Disengaged Taxpayers

% Who own their own homeBy age group

Less than 35 years 39%

35 to 44 years 65%

45 to 54 years 74%

55 to 64 Years 79%

65+ years 81%

U.S. Census Bureau

Disengaged VotersColoradansUnder 18

years

All Coloradans

Non-Hispanic White

58% 70%

Minority 42% 30%

U.S. Census Bureau

Disengaged Taxpayers

% Who own their own homeBy ethnic group

Non-Hispanic White

74%

Hispanic 48%

Black 45%

U.S. Census Bureau

Disengaged Taxpayers

How does an aging population and school

choice affect the connection between schools and property

values?

New Expectations for Institutions

Help me do

what I want, when I want, where I want!

20th Century = Centralized Institutions

Smallbones Wikimedia

20th Century = Centralized Institutions

Everything happened at a place at prescribed times

People willingly conformed their lives to the time, place and rules of institutions.

We gave awards to those who conformed best and longest.

Institutional Language

20th Century Problems slowly going

away20th Century 21st Century

Scarce Resources Abundant Resources

High CostsCosts Moving Toward

0Cumbersome

LogisticsInvisible Logistics

Limited Communications

OMG – 24/7 Communications

Choice“You can have it any color you want as long as it’s black.”Henry Ford

11.7 Billion songs sold on iTunes in 2010Forbes July, 2011

Customization

Do It Yourself

Co-create

Tensions between Old and New

New AttitudesGiven the opportunity, people will choose to design and manage their own experiences.

People value expertise but reject authority.

People will gravitate toward institutions that help them design and manage their own experiences — with advice not prescriptions.

People will give up quality for a greater sense of control.

How should we respond?

Think about community firstrather than schools first.

Too often we talk only about ourselves.

Simon_Sees (Flickr)

Joesph a (Flickr)

How should we respond?

Embrace the idea that we’re the first generation in nearly a

century that has the opportunity to reinvent how schools work.

How should we respond?1. Challenge the master narratives – schools

are a reflection of the community2. Make community building central to

everything we do3. Bring people on the inside – help people

learn as much about you as possible4. Give families more responsibility – help

them decide and do things for themselves5. Let people do work for schools and

students – don’t ask them to do your work6. Find ways to make schools relevant to the

other 70%