This was a meeting with leaders from a few different schools talking about the challenge of getting people to comment on blogs so that students had authentic audiences. The chat was pretty negative - people were feeling despondent they had tried a couple of times to get parents on board with this and had not been successful. Because of this leaders were finding it hard to encourage teachers to keep pushing forward with this because it felt like they were not getting the support from parents and the community. Every positive suggestion was counteracted by a negative one.
It has stayed on my mind throughout the weekend and I have also been thinking about this blog post that needed to be written and about my authentic audience. Reading the chapter Ask and Analyse and really thinking about the questions proposed by Burgess and Houf on pg 46 has helped me move forward with this.
It is really important when we are establishing a new initiative to ask the right questions and drill down into the data we receive to find out what it is telling us. But it is equally important to ask the right group of people the right questions. This is why one of the questions on pg 46 really resonated with me.
How will we ensure that every person impacted by the new initiative has some voice and choice so they feel this is something we have done with them, not to them?
Who are the stakeholders in this initiative? The students, the parents, and the teachers. Who were the people discussing the initiative at the meeting? The school leaders. I am cringing as I write this as we had not officially asked any of them their thoughts and we had no real data to drill into - just assumptions or hunches.
It is not too late though, we can start again with the right questions to all the stakeholders so that they can all have some voice and choice as we move forward with this.
Great post Jo. I guess this is another one of those times when we hope our passion carries us and everyone else around us, along on the crest of its wave. You are right though, to remind us that we do need to consult with our stakeholders, but the flip side of that is, sometimes we just need to do it and let it build its own momentum, - like this blog hop for instance.
ReplyDeleteThat's very true - I totally agree - and I do think that is what is happening in our setting - people are coming along with us in lots of areas. Does make you think though.
ReplyDeleteSuch a great question and without thinking about we are going to be doing just this as we look towards term 4 and welcoming 10 new entrants into our Ngahere Team when 1. the needs of the 10 students already in new entrants are extremely high 2. we have already pushed through groups of students across 3 years levels twice this year, and space is at a premium with our re build. we have the option of clearing out a class we were using as an alternative to the hall for small groups but it is on the opposite side of the school. As a 3 we have thrown ideas around but now we need to consult wide so as not to be 'doing' to our crew.
ReplyDeleteI agree totally Jo, we do need to ensure that the stakeholders have a voice. Having a voice does not however mean that you act on what they say. Yes, we listen, but as Maire said, there are times when we just have to do it, get on with it. To make this easier, we just need to let our people know how it all works. I know that when as a leadership team we cannot decide on the best course of action, it is often very beneficial to take the problem to the team.
ReplyDeleteI agree - sometimes the Leadership just has to make the decision - I just want to always makes sure I have investigated all options and sometimes the more ideas the better.
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