Getting Unstuck: Approaching School Change Through "Radical Incrementalism"
“From a professional learning standpoint, we’re making a big bet, and we’ve made a big bet, that authorship still matters. And we’re making a big bet that the research that John Hattie has done in visible learning really needs to be like the DSM, or Grey’s Anatomy for education. It’s what everyone’s been asking for. Show me the proof. Let’s move beyond our gut to “I know.” And so we’ve got that evidence base.”
Today on Getting Unstuck
Our mission since the publication of our book is to look at change and change leaders in education, answering the questions “Who is leading what change? Why and how are they doing it? And what outcomes are they seeking to achieve?” Someone who is uniquely qualified to give us a broad perspective on those questions is Mike Soules, President of Corwin. And because of his perspective, he is the lead-off voice in our summer professional development series “Tomorrow – How Might We Reimagine Our Schools?”
Corwin is a major publisher and provider of professional development services for P-20 educators. We need to note that Corwin is the publisher of our just-launched book, Shifting: How School Leaders Can Create a Culture of Change.
The Essential Point
Whether you’re a parent, an educator, or a citizen of the US, you have a big stake in what happens in our classrooms – the incubators of our future. If you listen to education transformation advocates – Sir Ken Robinson, Ted Dintersmith, Richer Gerver – we need to change those incubators by recognizing that we’re in a post-industrial society and build an educational system that better prepares children for it. What we see, however, is what at best is described as “change around the edges” and at worst, clinging to the bureaucracy that focuses on evaluating students instead of helping them become their best self for today’s world.
Mike Soules, President, Corwin
Mike’s school transformation ideas
Provide teachers with greater control over where they focus their professional development efforts
Develop micro-credentialing and alternative certification
Put students at the center of reform; give them greater agency to choose their own learning pathway
Move away from a strict adherence to Carnegie Units
Emphasize the evidence base of “what works”
Explore change through “radical incrementalism” - make small, powerful shifts
Connect with Mike
Could a book on how to effectively lead change in schools be more timely?
We’re pleased to announce …
…that our book Shifting: How School Leaders Can Create a Culture of Change is now available from Corwin Press or Amazon. If you purchase from Amazon, please consider leaving us a rating and review. Thank you!
From our publisher:
In Shifting, educators and leadership experts Kirsten Richert, Jeff Ikler and Margaret Zacchei empower educational change leaders to proactively and coherently navigate complex change in schools to achieve the desired outcomes.
Using a three-part framework—Assess, Ready, Change—this book leads educators to examine a school’s imperatives and readiness for change, identity the tools and abilities required to manifest change, and take action by defining the roles and processes necessary to effectively implement both sweeping change and smaller day-to-day adjustments.