Leaders Bring People Together

jackparkertcb1 Comment

As I read and listen to the news, I get more and more worried about the increasing polarization of our society.  People seem to love or hate much more than ever.  From the national stage, I am amazed how so many people are vigorous supporters of one candidate, yet others express the same vigor with dislike for that candidate.  Even recent discussions in our own state’s legislative branches demonstrate significant polarization.  I just heard a legislator on the radio say that his caucus is very set on an issue that surveys show is against the will of the people in the state.  Even in my own community, we have polarization on too many issues.

I realize that news folk seek out responses from both ends of the spectrum on issues, but as I listen to talk shows or reports from the street, it seems to me that so many people have tunnel vision only looking at one aspect of an issue and not seeing the big picture.  Of course, some of the people who are put on camera appear to be missing something…, but so are people who look at a mountain and can only see a rock.

Those that know me can attest that I am far from Milquetoast on many matters that are important to me.  Really, I have the ability to express some passion.  But, I ask myself, what the heck is wrong with seeing all sides of an issue…the good, bad and the in-between?  When did we start to become a society of people who wear blinders?

Of course, our connectedness through social media has arguably been a part of pulling us further apart.  We now have so many forums for us to hold personal court.  Don’t get me wrong, I participate moderately in social media functions.  One of my favorite aspects of social media isn’t reading the idea that is expressed initially, it is digging into the many responses to the idea that is originally posted.  Every once in a while I actually see someone demonstrate some thinking and regard for what is expressed by others.  It still strikes me that so many people are much more interested in expressing their opinions first rather than trying to learn the opinions of others.  (My favorite Covey quote:  “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” comes to mind here!)

I am blessed to work in a great profession where there is a significant proportion of reasonable people compared to the rest of the world.  I will say though that even in education, we have those who are quick to judge.  The silent majority still rules in the end, but so many times the path is fraught with frustration.  More often than not, I am heartened to see people disagree AND understand and respect the opinions of those with which they disagree.  I really do love school people!

As a leader, I have found that getting to the point where the middle ground can be found on significant issues usually comes when we work deeply with BELIEFS.  Determining the best questions to wrestle with and facilitating a conversation where others are learning, reading and discovering all perspectives before cementing their own opinions often leads to products that are best for students and teachers.

Ask yourself when the last time was that you had a thorough conversation at the beliefs level with your colleagues.  If you are a leader, when is the last time you facilitated such a conversation?

If we want to bring people together, we must focus on developing shared beliefs.  We need to ask questions of significance that are difficult to answer; and we need to give people time to digest the thoughts and opinions of others.  In our ever increasing world of polarization, now more than ever we need to have a firm understanding of how to build consensus through developing shared beliefs

By the way, if you don’t want to bring people together, please don’t lead anything.  We already have too much of that in our world and we don’t need anymore.

The BEST Teachers…

jackparkertcbLeave a comment

Straight from John Hattie’s Visible Learning

When students were asked about their best teachers, the common attributes were teachers who built relationships with students (Batten & Girling-Butcher, 1981), teachers who helped students to have different and better strategies or processes to learn the subject (Pehkonen, 1992), and teachers who demonstrated a willingness to explain material and help students with their work (Sizemore, 1981).

In my humble opinion those are very LEARNER focused behaviors. When we focus on learners, our teaching becomes a solution, not an activity we perform every day. To help students learn, we must change our solutions.

While working on my laptop last night, my wife was channel hopping (she does that a lot). Stopping on the movie The Blind Side when the character playing Michael Oher was being tutored by character being played by Kathy Bates caused me to stop working and watch for a bit. During the scene I was watching, the actor playing Michael Oher looked at his tutor and said: “I don’t get it.” She replied: “YET, you don’t get it YET.”

So, I continued watching a bit even closing my laptop to save the battery. During another tutoring session, the tutor was working with Michael to find a topic for a paper he had to write. It was a very important paper as his future college scholarship rested on him getting a B or better on the single assignment. Kathy Bates’ character (sorry, I can’t remember her name in the movie) exhausted her ideas to motivate Michael, so she encouraged his father to step in. With a new approach and new ideas, they came up with a great topic to write about. The tutor never gave up and continued to find a new approach that would get through to help Michael learn.

Learning = (Teaching + Creativity) x Different Approach

Every Teacher MUST Answer This Question

jackparkertcbLeave a comment

In a recent conversation with several teachers, I asked the question: “Does teaching exist in the absence of learning?” This is the most essential question any teacher can ask of themselves. The answer, Yes, No, or somewhere in between, sets the boundaries of a teacher’s effectiveness.

This is a question that many wrestle with as they have experienced students who were very difficult to teach or who were very resistant to learning. How can we make a student learn if they don’t want to? Perhaps the better question one can ask of themselves is: “What power do I have in motivating the most challenging student to learn?” How much power one believes they have is their level of self-efficacy. Webster tells us that self-efficacy is a person’s belief of their power or capacity to produce a desired effect; effectiveness. Fancy psychological research found self-efficacy as the foundation of human motivation and accomplishments. Unless people believe they can produce desired effects by their actions, they have little incentive to act or persevere in the face of difficulties.

Yep, that’s us. We are working with our colleagues to increase teacher effectiveness in the face of difficulties and motivation is certainly key. That, perhaps, is a rather large understatement! Can we motivate teachers to become more effective if they don’t believe that they can be?

I once heard a story about a swim coach who “taught” a group of children to swim; however, try as she might, one student just couldn’t learn and had to be saved by a lifeguard on the last day of class. Did that swim coach teach that child to swim? Can everyone learn to swim? Maybe there are great reasons why the child didn’t learn to swim. Perhaps he didn’t take baby swim class when he was 9 months old like other children and he is just too far behind to learn. Maybe he has a disability that doesn’t allow him to make the proper connections in his mind to control his limbs as well as other children. I don’t know, but to me it is clear that the student didn’t learn to swim.

So, if he didn’t learn to swim, was he taught to swim? Did teaching occur?

Well, to me the big question hinges on the definition of teaching. Is teaching simply providing all of the necessary information on a subject? Being a formal student for half of my lifetime has taught me at least one thing…that there are some very knowledgeable teachers/professors in this world who can’t teach worth a darn. Knowing your material doesn’t mean that you can teach it.

If you’ve read this far, you’ve likely figured out where I stand on the subject. For the most part, I believe that teaching does not exist without learning.  I get it, there are some students that you just can’t reach.  I will say that if you never give up and always try new strategies and tactics, at the end of the day you’ll earn my respect.  I’m not quite Yoda when he said: “Do. Or do not. There is no try.”  Trying is important.

Do you believe that all students can learn? Search deep within yourself. If you truly believe this mantra, then you must also believe that you haven’t finished teaching if a student hasn’t learned enough…yet.

Solve a Problem Forever

jackparkertcbLeave a comment

In my many roles I have the fortune to interact with multiple school administrators. During my time with these great leaders, I strive to make connections and to find meaning for my own study of leadership. Recently, a theme has emerged that has wormed its way into the reoccurring conversations that I have with myself. The principle that I am calling “Solving a Problem Forever” (SPF) is one that I believe helps to set the very best leaders apart from the rest.

Have you ever said something like one of the following statements to yourself or to someone else?
“I can’t believe this is happening again.”
“This problem keeps coming up.”
“I am tired of always hearing this complaint.”

One simple example of when I experienced the need to SPF was when I was a building principal and I constantly received complaints about the drop off zone at our school. For some reason, more and more parents chose to drop their students off instead of having them ride the bus to school and this created some issues for those 300+ cars each morning. While few students were late to school, the amount of complaints I received made this a significant issue for me. It would have been easy to ignore this problem because it didn’t affect the school day much, but it did create nagging heartburn for my parents who wanted to get their children to school on time. And…I hate repeated complaints. To me, it became a cultural issue and one that I knew I needed to tackle.

So, to solve this problem, I first began by designing a set of protocols and listed them on one side of a page with the opposite side being a satellite view of our school with arrows and specific zones marked off. Knowing that developing these “rules” would not solve the problem forever, I knew that I needed to engage my teaching abilities. I made TV announcements talking to the students, sent home messages to parents, collaborated with our maintenance director to secure signage and curb paint AND I started the second semester greeting each car that entered our drop off zone with the new safety and procedural protocols. All of this solved the problem…but not forever. Knowing that the few people who think of themselves before others had the power to mess everything up, I began policing the drop off zone and assigned an additional staff person to do this on a regular basis. When a rare parent would choose to not support these new protocols, I approached their car and talked with them.

While the system wasn’t perfect, it did improve drop-off considerably. Cars no longer backed up onto the road and parents stopped complaining. I even received comments about how much they appreciated the new procedures and a few who noticed me addressing those who tried to skirt the system praised me and our school.

Leaders know that to solve a problem forever usually takes time…sometimes a lot of time. While it is impossible to solve every problem you have at a “forever” level, it is important that you work to SPF every chance that you get. Because there are so many issues that need to be managed, it can be easy to allow problems to continue because you don’t have the time to solve them; but don’t let that be an excuse. Many times the large investment up front provides more time over the course of the year as the multitude of having to “deal with something” diminishes.

Additionally, not only does SPF usually require significant time, it usually also requires dealing with issues at a fundamental level. Having difficult conversations, following up with those you are serving, and developing shared expectations that are best for students, will always pay into your time bank. When you are able to have conversations at a fundamental and foundational level, you build trust and confidence…or rather, leadership capital. When you solve a problem forever, you affect your culture and that influences other areas of your leadership.

Seek First to Understand…All Stories

jackparkertcbLeave a comment

I learned years ago that the source of a person’s anger is usually due to their story not matching up with reality.  Simple, but still a great thought when trying to understand why someone has “feelings” about an issue.  What do I mean by a “story”?  Well, a person’s story is their version of what reality should be.  Of course, that story doesn’t always match reality.  Let me share an example.

The Parker’s go to movies VERY early.  We leave home at least 45 minutes before the show starts taking a leisurely drive to the theatre and arriving in our seats with a drink and a small snack that we plan to consume before the movie starts.  Then, we play on our phones while waiting for the previews to begin.  Yes, typically we are the first people in the theatre.  The story we play in our heads is that there is no need to rush; cashiers are quick as lines are short, and we get to sit in a seat that we prefer with very little hassle and without inconveniencing others.

In contrast, some folks must leave their homes when the movie is advertised to start, wait in a long line for a ticket, purchase 27 different snacks and drinks from the concessions, and then find their seat (usually right in front of us) 5 minutes after the movie starts thereby missing all of the valuable previews and an opportunity for the perfect seat.  They also talk for 5 more minutes as they pass their snacks around (that doesn’t bother me or anything…).  I imagine that the “late” arrivers are quite content with all of this.  Their story is that they got to a movie in time to see the “good stuff” and they are thankful that there were awesome seats right in front of this other family.  If we traded movie going procedures, the Parkers and the late arrivers would both likely have anxiety attacks.

Now, we strive to control our reality by leaving extra-early for movies.  Sometimes, reality doesn’t play out that way as we are not always able to leave at a preferred time.  Those times, when we are not able to leave early, we speed to the theater turning into the parking lot on two wheels.  I shove Pam out the door with a credit card, and I park the car and run in to catch her punching the self-serve ticket machine with vigor.  We still get to watch the previews, but we were rushed and we do not like to be rushed.  This situation may not make us angry, but we certainly are not happy because reality did not match our story of what traveling to a movie should be like.

Just like our movie going experience, when we are faced with situations that make us unhappy, we all have an opportunity to make a choice.  Either we can change our story, or we can change reality by leaving early for a movie.  In making a decision to change reality, one must weigh the level of emotion experienced with the effort that it would take to change that reality.  If something does not bother us much, and changing reality is arduous, then we are likely to change our expectations…our story.  In contrast, if something garners a great deal of emotion, we are more likely to put forth effort to change reality.  The amount of effort that we are willing to expend to affect change directly corresponds to the strength of our emotions or feelings.  That is the premise of why I like to work with passionate people. Passionate people WORK to change reality.

Of course, this principle applies when leading others.  I’ve often found that when working with someone who has “feelings” it is good to work very hard to try to understand their point of view by imagining their story for myself.  Why do they feel the way that they do?  What is their story and how is it different from mine or from reality?  I try to be empathetic and follow Steven Covey’s 5th principal:  “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”

This is also a great way to deal with conflict or expectations not being met.  When the person with whom you are conversing truly feels that you understand why they feel the way that they do, you can usually be more successful when getting your own point across; and, perhaps your point will be even clearer to you when you have full understanding of all of the important “stories”.

As leaders, we must always strive to realize the stories that people have.  Remember, their story is a version of what reality should be.  Through understanding all of the related stories, we have the best chance to determine whether we need to change reality by leading others to implement a new program or procedure, or whether we need to communicate differently to help change the stories that cause people angst.

You Choose to be Who You Want to Be

jackparkertcbLeave a comment

One of my favorite movies of all time is the little known animated movie, The Iron Giant.  It is a wonderful story that is worth watching again and again.  In the movie, a giant robot from space crash lands in a remote area of the U.S. in 1957.  The crash has slightly damaged the robot as is evident by the slight dent in his head and loss of memory.  Discovered first by a nine year old boy named Hogarth, the robot is hidden for a while in a junk yard.  Over the course of several days, the duo spends time playing, reading comics and exploring the woods.  During their time together, Hogarth shares many of life’s lessons with the robot.  One lesson, about making choices, is learned when Hogarth introduces the concept of Superman to the Iron Giant.  The robot immediately relates to the superhero’s abilities and using those abilities for good.

Of course, crisis comes their way as a CIA investigator is in the area to investigate the “meteor” that was seen in the sky days ago.  Upon finding the giant robot, panic ensues and a local military contingent begins firing on the robot.  Since Hogarth is with the giant robot at the time, the robot runs away only to see that the boy was knocked out (or worse) due to their fleeing from the military.  Seeing the potential death of his friend, the robot begins to behave in a way that was obviously the purpose of his designers.  The dent suddenly is “popped out” on his head and guns, lasers and missiles are fired from the Iron Giant as he fights against the military.

Soon, Hogarth wakes and gets the Iron Giant to stop firing his weapons.  The CIA agent still wants the robot destroyed, so in his panic he sends a message to an offshore naval ship to launch a nuclear missile at the robot’s location, which at the time happens to be in the town square.  Realizing that the missile will kill many people, the Iron Giant launches himself to meet the missile in the stratosphere and save the town.  As he approaches the missile, the Iron Giant recalls what Hogarth taught him and replays Hogarth’s voice in his head…“You choose who you want to be.”  The Iron Giant then whispers, just before directly impacting the missile, “I’m Superman.”

Obviously, the Iron Giant was designed to be a killing machine; however, he chose to be a savior.  What a great message for all of us.  Regardless of our life’s experiences and troubles, we can still choose to be who we want to be.  And, in the case of the Iron Giant, he had a great teacher in Hogarth who helped him to understand that tenet.

I am a believer that it is the little choices in our lives that matter.  Making the right decision each and every day, even when the right decision requires additional work, is what makes all of the bigger decisions easier.  Philosopher William James said it best.  “All of life is but a mass of small choices—practical, emotional and intellectual—systematically organized for our greatness or grief.  We must never forget that it’s not only our big dreams that shape reality…the small choices bear us irresistibly toward our destiny.”

Our power is in our choices…our little choices…that we make each and every day.  Remember that we are not defined by a college degree or a position.  We are a composite of our choices, which is what defines us…and, what defines how we are viewed by others.

I Guess You’ll Have to Teach!

jackparkertcbLeave a comment

In my teaching days, I attended an annual music conference where I enjoyed finding new gems in middle school music literature.  It was December of 1994 and I’ll never forget the lesson that I learned while not attending a speaker’s session.  I enjoyed frequenting the displays and speaking with publishers and composers about their new music.  This was very helpful.  One day while speaking with Ann McGinty, (a very popular composer) I shared a problem with my band’s trumpet section because Yuki, my 1st chair trumpet player, had just moved back to Japan and she was my rock.  Without her, my trumpet section’s ability was depleted to a degree that they were my weakest section.  I was in a spot.  I had the students for only one more semester and state contest season was upon us!

In speaking with Ms. McGinty, I expressed that I was searching for a composition that met certain criteria, but didn’t feature the trumpet section much because mine was rather weak.  After lamenting the loss of Yuki and sharing my desire to find an arrangement that would “hide” the less than stellar section, Ms. McGinty said something to me that I’ll never forget.  She said:  “I guess you’ll have to teach.”

After I picked my ego up off of the floor and stumbled through a few excuses, she kindly directed me to some great music; however, her assertion has haunted me ever since.  That is when I learned that I had power in every situation.  That is when I understood that I could make a difference.  Ms. McGinty taught me that where there were weaknesses, there were opportunities.  She reminded me that I needed to roll up my sleeves and get to work on my “problem” because I already had the answer…I had the power… I could teach.

The book, Motivating Students Who Don’t Care by Allen Mendler, contains many great pearls of wisdom and practical strategies for teachers.  One bit of wisdom is found on page 28. “Although we cannot make it impossible for students to fail, good teaching requires that we make it extremely difficult for students to fail.  This attitude enables us to emphasize success while maintaining high expectations.”  Before we can motivate students who don’t care, we as teachers must be motivated to help them.  I know that it is very frustrating as many have tried every trick in their bag and sometimes success just seems to be elusive.  What we sometimes forget is that we are only willing to implement strategies that are within our personal comfort zone.  If we have tried and failed with all of the strategies that we are comfortable trying, perhaps it’s time to try some other ideas.  This premise has application to many situations.

Teaching difficult/struggling learners is a challenge, but it is also an opportunity.  Perhaps those teachers who find their own learning easy have the most difficulty understanding this concept.  Wouldn’t it be nice to teach only students that had great families and were already set up for success?  Wow, think of what I could have done back in 1994 if my students’ previous teacher would have just taught them better when they started out in trumpet class.  I could have done some even cooler stuff if the students were stellar before they came to me.  Think of all of the great performances we could have had if I didn’t have to do any teaching!  (Oops…I forgot that I didn’t conduct the Boston Philharmonic…)

I firmly believe that there are two characteristics that set the very best teachers apart from the good to mediocre teachers.  One of those is that the very best teachers have an undying sense of hope.  That hope is transferred to a belief that as a teacher, one has the power to affect any student’s life that they choose.  The most powerful teachers will continually try different tactics and will never give up…even if he/she doesn’t see success during that school year.  Will you be one of these teachers?

There are no “bad kids,” but there are kids that we may not have reached yet.  You don’t know the impact you have on students until they have had a few years and other adult advocates in their lives to put a few things together.  Learning is as much about timing and prior knowledge as it is about anything else.  Perhaps your job is to simply create that prior knowledge about character and effort.  Maybe the experience of having SOME success will stick with a child and s/he will subconsciously remember that with effort comes success.

Teaching is a process, not a product.  We will not and we cannot expect students to fail; however, some students will.  My question to you is: what impact will you have on that student’s life in 3, 7, or 9 years?  I promise that you do have an impact on that student.  I learned from Ms. McGinty that teaching wasn’t always fun, but teaching is a must.  If I am unhappy with a situation involving students, I have the power to teach.  I am a teacher.  In the end how much impact you have on each student, especially those who are less served by their families or your colleagues, is really up to you.  You have great power.  You…are a teacher.