The Six Secrets of Change: Good Advice for Educational Leaders

I just completed The Six Secrets of Change by Michael Fullan and I must recommend this for all educational leaders in a position to affect change at his or her school. This research-based book by Fullan, who is Professor Emeritus at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, was written for business leaders and leaders of organizations. However, the book contains a wealth of information for those in educational leadership positions. The Six Secrets are outlined and summarized for you below.

1. Love Your Employees - "If you build your organization by focusing on your customers without making the same careful commitment to your employees, you won't succeed for long."

2. Connect Peers with Purpose - Leaders must "foster continuous and purposeful peer interaction." "Your employees must fall in love with their peers."

3. Capacity Building Prevails - You can accomplish significant improvements only when you build capacity (i.e. new competencies, new motivation) in your employees.

4. Learning is the Work - Learning outside the workplace will result in no change unless the learning is "in balance and concert" with the work.

5. Transparency Rules - There must be a "clear and continuous display of results and clear and continuous display of of what is being done to get the results."

6. Systems Learn - "The synergetic result of the previous five secrets in action is tantamount to a system that learns from itself."

I believe these secrets carry a great deal of weight when educational leaders seek to affect change with and through the faculty. After all, at the risk of sounding adult-centered rather than student-centered, faculty make or break a school. One of the things lending credibility to this book for educators is its examination of the McKinsey report, How the World's Best School Systems Come Out on Top, which says "the quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers." Change can be a powerful tool but change must be managed and implemented appropriately. Fullan's Six Secrets of Change provides a framework for business leaders and educational leaders alike to make change and to make a difference within an organization or school. I've only scratched the surface of the wealth of information in Fullan's book so add this one to your library.

Educational Leadership Food for Thought from Philadelphia

The ISM conference Leading the Successful Upper School has delivered in spades. I recommend this for any division head regardless of years of experience. The conference has brought together division heads from across the country with myriad backgrounds and educational experiences. The conversation among the heads has been thought provoking, challenging and highly beneficial. Additionally, the consultants from ISM have presented philosophical concepts, useful information and researched-based strategies covering a wide spectrum of topics thus far including hiring and firing, managing stress, leadership, focusing on mission statements and managing change.

Below are bullet points of information I've picked up throughout my four days here in Philadelphia. These mostly are a random collection of statements and thoughts that made me think. I am not saying I agree or disagree with anything below but rather I am listing (in no particular order) some interesting and provocative ideas presented this week.

• The Development Office should focus on the development of relationships in which fundraising in as outcome



• The job of a division head is to impact teachers and make teachers better so they, in turn, can impact students



• Over time, all schools become adult-centered institutions because the adults in the building generally are there longer (in terms of longevity) than the students



• As an educational leader, your best work should be done in a servant paradigm not in a power paradigm



• It is important for faculty to engage in meaningful, adult conversation on a regular basis



• Research on teacher mentoring says mentoring is a waste of time unless it is a component of a full induction process (which may take between six months and three years)



• Professional development should be mandatory for teachers



• Teachers who are not interested in professional development should have no place in your school

Good Leadership Thoughts from Philly

Yesterday we talked at length about leadership and what leadership looks like for division heads in independent schools. Our presenter had prepared a list of leadership tasks for us to think about. I do not know where she got the list so I apologize in advance for not giving credit where credit is due. We focused on the fact that these tasks are just that: tasks of leaders. These tasks exist for leaders regardless of leadership style, personality, characteristics, etc. The list is intriguing so I'll share here without editorializing but simply as food for thought.

LEADERSHIP TASKS

• Leaders find and listen to their inner voice
• Leaders listen to and attend to others
• Leaders tell stories and inspired shared vision
• Leaders cultivate an organization's creative imagination
• Leaders evoke conversations that matter
• Leaders foster renewal

Professional Development in Philadelphia

ISM (Independent School Management) begins a week-long conference today in Philadelphia called Leading the Successful Upper School. I am fortunate to work for a school that believes strongly enough in professional development to send me to the conference. I arrived in Philadelphia on July 4, which couldn't have been more fitting for a history buff and former history teacher, and immediately set off on foot to explore the city. As I walked past Independence Hall and other incredible landmarks, I easily could imagine what it must have been like here 233+ years ago. The men who began this great experiment gathered together and drew strength and wisdom from one another in order to create something new and different and better. I can't help but think that when division heads from some of America's best independent schools come together this week in Philadelphia, we will draw from one another strength and wisdom with which we can return to our own schools and make them new and different and better. Throughout the week I'll post some new thoughts and ideas I pick up along the way at the conference.

The Equity Project and Emphasis on Teacher Observation and Collaboration

As I explained in my last post about The Equity Project, TEP's core belief centers on the quality of teachers in the classroom as the single most important factor in student success. After a rigorous and intense search and hiring process, The Equity Project feels it has assembled a veritable dream team of teachers. Though TEP has assembled a dream team, leadership at TEP understands two important points: 1) the value of great teachers extends beyond the impact made directly on students; 2) even the best teachers must continue to grow personally and professionally in order to stay on the vanguard. TEP leadership has in place a strategic and deliberate plan to address both points.


The following text, which outlines the TEP plan, is taken directly from the TEP website:
While an interdisciplinary curriculum is a theoretical ideal, the structural reality of many schools precludes the collaboration required for interdisciplinary teaching and learning to take place. In contrast, TEP’s school structure specifically creates and reinforces a collaborative culture in several key ways: (a) The annual 6-week Summer Development Institute lays the foundation for interdisciplinary teaching as teachers collaborate in planning specific curricular changes and designing Academic Support Plans for failing students. (b) TEP’s teacher schedule has been specially designed such that every TEP teacher spends at least three periods per day observing, being observed, and debriefing/planning with a partner teacher (teacher pairs rotate each quarter). This unique structural feature provides built-in time for teachers to plan and implement interdisciplinary units with one another.

The brilliance, for me, in the TEP schedule lies in item (b): "every TEP teacher spends at least three periods per day observing, being observed, and debriefing/planning with a partner teacher (teacher pairs rotate each quarter)." Who better to observe to improve one's own pedagogy than master teachers? Who better to observe teachers and provide feedback on pedagogy than master teachers? Peer observation creates a non-threatening win-win situation for teachers. Regardless of whether the observer and the active teacher specialize in the same academic field or not, teachers can learn from one another when provided the opportunity by educational leaders to spend time in each other's classrooms. In many districts and at many schools, teachers rarely have the opportunity to leave their own classroom to observe other teachers. Likewise, in many districts and schools, leadership rarely encourages such interaction between educators. Kudos to to The Equity Project for not only understanding the value of such an exercise but also for making a quantifiable commitment to the exercise by building time into the schedule for observation and collaboration.