Several times this fall, for various reasons, I鈥檝e been asked about lessons I鈥檝e learned over time. If 测辞耻鈥檙别 interested, I noodle on all this in . But one lesson that you won鈥檛 find there is one that I鈥檝e come to believe is crucial in understanding the vicissitudes of school improvement: Everyone involved in schooling thinks 迟丑别测鈥檙别 the good guy. Appreciating this little truth can make a huge difference when 测辞耻鈥檙别 trying to change pretty much anything in K鈥�12 schooling.
What do I have in mind?
Sit with a teacher, and odds are they鈥檒l tell you how much time they put into lesson planning and instruction, how much work they do at home after their kids go to bed, and how little appreciation they get. Ask about their biggest frustration, and there鈥檚 a good chance you鈥檒l hear about meddling assistant principals or principals who just don鈥檛 get it.
Sit with a principal, and they鈥檒l tell you how much time they spend monitoring instruction and putting out fires, how early they arrive in the morning and how long their day extends, and how little appreciation they get. Ask about their biggest frustration, and there鈥檚 a good chance you鈥檒l hear about the meddling clowns in the central office or a superintendent who just doesn鈥檛 get it.
Sit with a superintendent, and they鈥檒l tell you how much time they spend addressing unfair media accounts, managing conflict, or engaging the community; how much time they spend visiting schools or evening events across the community; and how little appreciation they get. Ask about their biggest frustration, and there鈥檚 a good chance you鈥檒l hear about the meddling school board or the state legislators who just don鈥檛 get it.
Talk to school board officials or parents . . . you get the idea.
The point: Everybody thinks 迟丑别测鈥檙别 the hero of the story. If you don鈥檛 get that, you鈥檒l find yourself constantly wondering why these ill-intentioned people are standing in your way. But 99 percent of the time 迟丑别测鈥檙别 wondering why 测辞耻鈥檙别 in their way. Whether it鈥檚 about overhauling how schools use time, reshaping the teaching job, or leveraging educational choice, those on both sides of a decision are convinced 迟丑别测鈥檙别 right.
Especially in schooling, where we鈥檙e talking about kids, public dollars, and community institutions, every change is going to produce questions and discomfort. It鈥檚 wise to respect that and acknowledge it. Those who dismiss parental concerns as selfish or uninformed will find themselves inflaming opposition. Those who wave away teacher concerns, simply insisting their idea is the 鈥渞ight鈥� thing to do, tend to reap a whirlwind of well-deserved skepticism.
If you appreciate that everyone thinks their heart is in the right place (and that your agenda is the problem), it鈥檚 easier to anticipate missteps. Indeed, you can look back at how advocates have fought for any number of things鈥攆rom No Child Left Behind to the teacher-evaluation boomlet to Common Core to social and emotional learning鈥攁nd get a better sense of why so much of their messaging didn鈥檛 seem to connect with skeptical parents or teachers. It turns out that telling doubters the 鈥渞esearch鈥� supports you or that 测辞耻鈥檙别 doing it 鈥渇or the kids鈥� doesn鈥檛 help if they find the research unpersuasive or think 迟丑别测鈥檙别 the ones standing up 鈥渇or the kids.鈥�
What鈥檚 the alternative?
Be open to the possibility that the story is more complicated than we鈥檙e prone to acknowledge, to the chance that those who disagree with you may nonetheless mean well and have a point. Instead of trying to shout them down, ask them questions and listen to the answers.
You may learn something. You may even find surprising points of agreement. And a question-driven approach has added benefits. When you approach this work with an answer, everyone else is either an ally or an opponent. They鈥檙e either for your idea or against it. The more you dig in, the more firmly those lines are drawn. And then all the talk about collaboration rings hollow.
If you start by asking what鈥檚 not working, though, it opens doors. That鈥檚 why I鈥檓 so fond of drawing on history when I write or talk about this stuff. The great thing about starting with how we got here is that it creates some emotional remove. It gives us some distance from what we鈥檙e arguing about. A given policy or practice may have been sensible in 1923. But that doesn鈥檛 mean it remains so in 2023.
Shifting the focus in this way can create room to identify frustrations and potential solutions. It鈥檚 not a secret sauce and it鈥檚 no panacea. But if you don鈥檛 get that the knucklehead across the table thinks 迟丑别测鈥檙别 the good guy and 测辞耻鈥檙别 the problem, well, I鈥檝e learned that it can help would-be reformers succeed where so many well-meaning predecessors have stumbled.
