Turn the Battleship on a Dime: Keys to Initiating Sustainable
Change
Eric SheningerPrincipal - New Milford High School
ericsheninger.comTwitter - @NMHS_Principal
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Sunday, March 17, 2013
What needs to change?
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Why Change?
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Why CHANGE?
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Why Change?
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Why does change not work?
Why has it failed in your school?
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Why is change so hard?
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Why is Change So hard?
• Status Quo• If it isn’t broke why
fix it• This too shall pass
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Why is Change so Hard?
• Fear• Void of leadership• No vision• Lack of knowledge
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Why is Change so Hard?
• Instability• Too many initiatives
at once• Resistance• One size fits all initiatives
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Identifying and Overcoming Obstacles
to Change
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1. This is too hard
• Change is not easy• Requires work, risk-taking,
learning from mistakes, and commitment, no fear of failure
• 'The price of change is measured by our will and courage, our persistence, in the face of difficulty.' - Peter Block
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2. I don’t Have Time For This
• Most common excuse• In a profession focused on making a
difference in the life of a child
“I don’t find the time to learn and get better. I make the time to learn and get better.” - Eric Sheninger
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3. Lack of Collaboration
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4. Directives and Mandates
“You can't force commitment, what you can do... You nudge a little here, inspire a little there, and provide a role model. Your primary influence is the environment you create.” - Peter Senge
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5. Hierarchy in Schools
Result - inflexible, lack of freedom/autonomy to take risks, ideas are squashed
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6. No Support
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7. Fear of Change
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8. The Resistance (Naysayers and Antagonists)
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9. Poor Professional Development
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10. Frivolous Purchases
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Change Begins With Us
'You must be the change you want to see in the world.' - Mahatma Gandhi
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A Roadmap to Change: Essential Questions
• Where do we begin?• What are the school factors that
influence student achievement?• How do you change culture and move
past the status quo?• How to we get educators and school
systems to embrace change?
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Keys to Sustainable Change
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What the Research Says
• Improvement that fosters learning, not merely change that alters schooling.
• Improvement that endures over time.• Improvement that can be supported by
available or obtainable resources.
Hargreaves, D. & Fink, D. (2003)
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• Improvement that does not affect negatively the surrounding environment of other schools and systems.
• Improvement that promotes ecological diversity and capacity throughout the educational and community environment.
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Ownership
• Issues involved• Process for achieving change• Complexity of the process
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Vision
• Coherent• Shared• Common
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Communication
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Value
• Student achievement• Research base• Social/emotional well-being
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Motivation
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Strategic Plan
• Why?• How?• Input• Measurement of success
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Image credit http://www.tamhsc.edu/oie/strategic-plan-cycle.jpg
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Embracement as Opposed to Buy-In
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Support
• Time• Professional Development (meaningful,
relevant, applicable)• Resources
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Culture Shock
• Risk-taking
• Flexible
• Give up CONTROL
• Trust
• Shared-decision making
• Respect
• Empowerment
• Innovation and creativity rule
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Do One Thing Great Instead of Many Things
OK
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Modeling
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Connectedness Matters
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Solutions, not Excuses
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The No Complaining Rule
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Linchpin Mentality
Create your own art
Become indispensable
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Become an Outlier
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Sustainable Changes at New Milford HS
• Grading
• Academies
• Teaching and Learning Web 2.0
• Independent Open Courseware Study (IOCS)
• Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
• Professional Growth Period (PGP)
• AP Culture
• Social MediaSunday, March 17, 2013
• Realize change is necessary• Understand issues that impede
change• Identify major roadblocks beforehand
and develop strategies to deal with them
• Focus in key elements necessary for sustaining change
• Learn from other areas
Summary
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Summary - Key Elements
• Maintaining the change effort beyond initial implementation.
• Extending the change effort after its initial success.
• Adapting the change effort so that it survives—and thrives—over time
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Turn the Battleship on a Dime: Keys to Initiating Sustainable
Change
Eric SheningerPrincipal - New Milford High School
ericsheninger.comTwitter - @NMHS_Principal
Sunday, March 17, 2013
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