The burden of presumed competence
Lee Teitel
“The biggest challenge facing schools leaders is the burden of presumed competence” Roland Barth
“People do not resist change they resist the losses associated with change”
“Why are we doing what we are doing?” “sharpening the saw” – saw is blunted by continual use - coming to Harvard or attending good CPD sharpens that saw again.
Technical challenges – things we know how to do already – band aid approach – not necessarily easy but the necessary skill set is available – What is the problem you are trying to solve?
Adaptive challenge – trying to develop new solutions – involve conflict, choices or values – the characteristics of an adaptive solution would be that they create conflict losses choices or values – the problems keep coming back if you throw technical challenges at them. ( I teach chemistry not kids – this is a major adaptive change for the teacher)
If you try to change classroom practice by presenting teachers with attainment data that is technical change – temporary ‘band aid’ approach.
Need to talk more to find common solutions.
Is it always relevant to acknowledge our confusion?
Judgement needs to come into play
Confessing you don’t know can enhance your stature
It’s important to know what you don’t know
How are we developing our school leaders
People interpret the expression of confusion differently from men and women - women have to be right first time!
Need to find new solutions to old problems
What networks that support my practice as a leader?
What does it mean to be in a network that shares practice?
Good leadership is to important to leave to chance – bringing to scale high quality learning and teaching
Characteristics of school leadership practice networks:
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Belief that there is a leadership practice – perhaps not just one
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Have structured times and norms of honest and critical feedback
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Theory and practice are intertwined
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Use of protocols and norms to change default cultures
Ewan McIntosh wrote:
There’s also the burden of knowing what you do know, the burden of knowledge. I was writing about this yesterday in relation to managing change and communicating ideas effectively:
http://edu.blogs.com/edublogs/2007/07/on-the-leading-.html
Coming away from the place of work is certainly a great way to refresh practice, but what about the opportunities to find refreshing change and practice within a home environment? It’s harder, perhaps, but maybe more sustainable and shareable with colleagues.
Maybe we might even be able to discuss this F2F - I’ll be with you in Boston in 48 hours
Posted on 13-Jul-07 at 11:03 am | Permalink
Vince’s Learning Log » Blog Archive » Pastures New wrote:
[...] Since my last posting a couple of my colleagues, St Clare’s teacher librarian Colleen Collins and Wollongong Learning Technologies Senior Education Officer, Gary Brown have both attended conferences in the US, Colleen attending the Educomm Conference in Anaheim and Gary the NECC Conference in Atlanta. It was great that they kept in contact with me during their time away and it was an amazing feeling for me to be able to straightaway download podcasts from both conferences and listen to sessions that they had both attended courtesy of Wesley Fryer at Moving at the Speed of Creativity. I am finding more and more that reading blogs and listening to podcasts created by people with a passion for learning in today’s world is an effective way of keeping up to speed with what is happening in the world of schooling, learning and education. Right now I am following with a great deal of interest the Harvard Leadership Blog of Don Ledingham and a number of other Scottish educators who are currently attending a 10 day Leadership Course at Harvard Graduate School of Education. I was fortunate enough to attend the Project Zero Classroom at Harvard in 2004 and can attest to the quality of this experience. One of the great things about reading quality blogs such as the Harvard Leadership Blog is the quality of the comments that they provoke - take a look at Ewan McIntosh’s comment and link to his own posting on July 12th - really powerful stuff as he lays out the challenges for all leaders who seek to make the schooling experiences relevant for those they seek to serve. [...]
Posted on 14-Jul-07 at 1:40 pm | Permalink
Lucy, school teacher wrote:
Thank for your valuable post. I wish all people used your solutions. I would even print them out and out on the wall. It is so simple to think anout what you don’t know and accept it - then you will make plans and learn more. I hate it when people pretend they know everything and always stay on the same level.
Posted on 15-Aug-07 at 6:12 pm | Permalink