Getting Unstuck #127: Making Sustainable Educational Changes
Today on Getting Unstuck
In this conversation, we welcome Grant Lichtman. Grant is an internationally recognized thought leader in the drive to transform K-12 education. He is a former school administrator and the author of three books on education reform, one of which, Thrive: How Schools Will Win the Educational Revolution, we will discuss here.
The essential point in Grant’s own words
“We have to stop talking about “why” education needs to change; that train left the station a decade ago. And we have to stop focusing on “what” those changes look like; there is broad agreement that education must become more student-centered, inquiry-based, and differentiated to the needs of the individual learner. The challenge for us is “how” we will make these changes, quickly and sustainably, in a world that changes more rapidly than at any time in human history.”
Your school or district’s value proposition is the difference between what you say you’re going to do and what you actually deliver to your stakeholders.
How you can use this podcast
As a school leader – administrators and teachers – how much are you talking with other school leaders, as Grant explains, who are “just down the road”? How have you positioned yourself to learn from others who may be / likely are experiencing some of the same issues as you are?
What is your school or district’s “North Star,” what Grant explains as a “common aiming point”? We might also refer to this concept as your vision, purpose or “why”? How are the operating systems you have in place, the changes you’re implementing, and what you do every day with students helping you to drive toward your North Star — basically, are your actions in alignment with your intent, or not?
What is the “distraction factor” in your school or district, meaning how easy it for someone to push for a change that may not actually contribute to the “North Star”? Asked another way, how disciplined are you in only seeking to innovate where a change would likely have major supportive impact?
Connect with Grant
Email: grantlichtman1@gmail.com
Website: www.grantlichtman.com
Twitter: @GrantLichtman
TEDx: "What We Can Learn From 60 Schools"
Newest book: THRIVE: How Schools Will Win the Education Revolution
Third book: Moving the Rock: Seven Levers WE Can Press toTransform Education
Second book: #EdJourney: A Roadmap to the Future of Education
First book: The Falconer: What We Wish We Had Learned in School
Referenced
Gaylan Nielson - Fake Work
Ibrahm X. Kendi - How to Be an Anti-Racist
Stanley McChrystal - Team of Teams
The Stairway of Successful Innovation
“Could a book on how to change in education be anymore timely?“
It is needed as educational leaders work through new distance learning approaches for all students. Educators must balance educating students, while keeping staff and students healthy. There is fear on the part of many teachers to remain healthy as they go back to school. Their why is to inspire and ensure that students thrive emotionally, socially and academically.
— Patrick Sweeney, Leadership Coach / Retired Superintendent