Too often new initiatives are not met with good process. Instead a few promote change with a limited process and perspective rather than a modern, inclusive process that truly takes every individual's voice and choice seriously.
We see these limited processes creating havoc throughout organizations while more inclusive, bottom-up approaches tend to result in better results and greater teamwork amongst all stakeholders.
How can school systems and organizations embrace this kind of inclusive, bottom-up thinking and doing?
First, it's critical to have common goals and language related to those goals. What really matters to your teaching/learning organization? I believe that Darling-Hammond and Harvey-Cook's recent article, Educating the Whole Child, offers a great starting point for this discussion.
Next, it is critical to assess the goals you are reaching for with an inclusive lens. What's working and what could be better? Too often assessments lack a holistic lens and rely on the perspectives of a few rather than the many. Good assessments take all stakeholders' voices and choices seriously--good assessments take a deep, serious look at what's going on and what could be going on with positive change.
After that, it's important to put a priority plan in place--where will we focus our attention and what will we do? What are the critical first steps to making positive change, and what changes can wait or be relegated to other organizations and/or resources.
Modernizing processes for growth and change is imperative in today's quickly changing and growing world. It's also imperative to make these processes inclusive and more democratic so that all stakeholders' opinions, needs, and interests are taken seriously and included in efforts for change and growth.
