Getting Unstuck #179: Creating the Psychologically Safe Environment for Change
“We need to be leaders who create environments of safety at the secondary level where teachers feel comfortable enough to try new things.”
Our guest
Dr. Randy Mahlerwein has served public schools in the greater Phoenix area as a secondary Teacher, Assistant Principal, Principal and Assistant Superintendent for the past 16 years, and is currently the Assistant Superintendent over Secondary Schools in Arizona’s largest school district, Mesa Public Schools serving the needs of over 60,000 students annually.
“We are custodians of a title. I have to come every day and earn the title Assistant Superintendent, Mesa Public Schools. When I leave the house every morning, I'm just Randy Mahlerwein from Hamilton, Ohio, and I get to earn that title every day. And I feel like that mentality of earning that title every day can solve a lot of problems if you really embrace it, you can do a lot of things from the right place.”
Why this conversation matters
This interview is part of our “Unstuck” series. These interviews focus on school leaders who are not just getting unstuck, they’re already "unstuck." And by "Unstuck," we mean they are embracing a major shift in their district or school's approach to student learning, instruction, ongoing teacher professional development, community relations, and personal leadership. They’re doing things better, not just differently, not just as part of the most recent fad or trend, but because they want to increase the likelihood that they can achieve desired outcomes on behalf of their students.
These change leaders have also embraced one or more of the nine recommended change shifts we detail in our book, Shifting: How School Leaders Can Create a Culture of Change. Those shifts were heavily informed by our research with thought leaders and practitioners. Now, in this series, we tell the stories of educators who are demonstrating one or more of those shifts, highlighting where their school or district was before the change, and where they’ve led or are leading their school or district. In short, we want to take our narrative from principles to practices that can inform the work of other educators.
In addition, we want to focus a bit on the mind of the school change agent. Specifically, what is the internal vision / driver that informs the external vision and actions toward change? What makes visionary change leaders such as yourself tick?
Listen for
√ The very specific mission that Mesa Public Schools (MPS) has for its students.
√ How Randy works with his administrators to create an environment of psychological safety and vulnerability, so that they feel comfortable experimenting and innovating.
√ The design of MPS teaming model.
√ The mentality that Randy looks for in the leaders with whom he works.
√ What Randy sees as the barriers that change agents must overcome.
√ Why Randy entered the teaching profession and the transformation he went through.
√ Why Randy studies business organizations – and what he’s learned.
Referenced
Jim Collins’ Good to Great
Amazon principles of leadership
Thomas Guskey’s Order of Change
Daniel Pink’s Drive
Rick Du Fours’ work on professional learning communities
Connect with Randy
Twitter @rmahlerwein
Connect with us
Jeff on LinkedIn
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