Lack of change is often attributed to a lack of understanding. Yet in many situations, we know what to do, we just don't do it. Despite this, our first instinct in getting people to change is to teach them something, when really the problem is not an understanding one.One of the reasons why thinking our way into change is limited is that we are lousy self-evaluators. Many of us tend to think we are better at things than we really are - known as a positive illusion, serviced by ambiguity in definitions of good. We don’t necessarily see all the shades involved in being good in different contexts - we may have fixed views or limited perspectives. As a result, we need to get people to see the situation as it is.
Kotter and Cohen found that in most change situations, managers initially focus on strategy, structures, culture or systems - but the heart of the matter is changing people’s behaviours which requires speaking to their feelings. Helping people, therefore, to see the problems or solutions in ways which influence emotions not just thought can be vital for engineering successful change. Rather than analyse-think-change, the sequence should focus on see-feel-change. It can, however, be hard to distinguish why people aren’t supporting change - do they not understand or are they not enthused?
Lack of change is often attributed to a lack of understanding. Yet in many situations, we know what to do, we just don't do it. Despite this, our first instinct in getting people to change is to teach them something, when really the problem is not an understanding one.One of the reasons why thinking our way into change is limited is that we are lousy self-evaluators. Many of us tend to think we are better at things than we really are - known as a positive illusion, serviced by ambiguity in definitions of good. We don’t necessarily see all the shades involved in being good in different contexts - we may have fixed views or limited perspectives. As a result, we need to get people to see the situation as it is.
0 Comments
One of the things I experienced when I was mentoring other teachers was that even those most resistant to feedback would respond if they saw an improvement in the way students responded to their teaching. Even if they were skeptical, if they tried something out and experienced positive results, their mindset towards learning (of their students' and their own) began to change.
I'll give you an example. A Grade 1 teacher is teaching a Math lesson. He has a clear learning goal, good instructional strategies and has planned opportunities for students to practice the new skill. But by the end of the lesson, few students had achieved the lesson's objective because the learning environment was chaotic and the teacher had no classroom management strategies. Now the feedback was quite easy to give. There were lots of strengths to draw on, the problem was clear and it was easy to suggest some strategies that would change the situation. But the teacher did not want to hear it. The kids were simply naughty and incapable of concentrating and there was nothing to be done. So I encouraged him to target a change that would be easy to achieve (i.e. not cost the teacher too much effort or risk), cajoled a little, and then watched it happen. I also watched the teacher not only improve his teaching and therefore the student's learning, but I also watched the teacher open the door to the potential for infinite improvement by witnessing that he can learn and his students can learn. no amount of me telling him that could have achieved that - he had to see it for himself. This is what Orin, the instructor on Coaching Teachers: making changes that stick, calls the Snowman effect. One of the most important things in learning for teachers (and children for that matter) is not the acquisition of a new skill, but the development of a growth mindset. With this, when teachers need to learn a new skill (when don't they?), they'll come to the experience with fewer change deflecting behaviours, which means internal processing and implementation happens quicker, driven by the confidence that the acquisition of a new skill, no matter how hard, will have a positive pay off for his students. Without that, hours of workshops or coaching will have little effect at all and be a waste of time and money, which is all too familiar a scenario. So what does this mean? It means venturing into a new world for teachers. A world in which we are not only held accountable for what we do and the scores our students get, but for who we are and how we get better scores. Will we go there? I don't think we have a choice. Last week, in my Coaching course, we were introduced to a formula for effective coaching which included quality instructional goals, quality of feedback and fixed mindset tax. This week, we are focusing on the latter. Based on Carol Dweck's work, a growth mindset indicates an attitude that abilities are not fixed but elastic and that with effort and feedback, skills can be improved, whereas a fixed mindset is underpinned by the belief that skills and abilities are innate and relatively immutable, even with practice, feedback and effort. Mindsets are not overall dispositions, but fluctuate across tasks and time and effective coaching needs to be able to work with both. The fixed mindset tax refers to the behaviours that prevent a teacher from hearing or engaging with information which suggests they need to change or improve. Effective coaching reduces those behaviours to affect successful change. If you can't stop fixed mindset behaviours, that are designed to deflect critical feedback, you are never going to be able to have a conversation that actually helps solve the problem. Four Horsemen of fixed mindset #1: You're right! I suck! #2: You're wrong! I rule! #3: Blame it on the rain! #4: Optimist without a cause! So how do you reduce those behaviours? Ross, the course instructor, suggests the first thing is to name the behaviours, as above. This makes them into something that can be recognised as behaviours most of us engage in sometimes; it creates a common language that facilitates hard conversation (with humour too!); and it helps teachers be more mindful of these behaviours and change them for themselves.
Watching this week's videos had me in stitches, as I saw myself and nearly everyone I've met in the roleplayed scenarios used to demonstrate each 'horseman'. I actually can't wait to try these techniques. Images courtesy of Match Education and Coursera. |
AuthorI'm an educator driven by the desire to see people realise their potential by gaining the tools they need to be successful. I love being part of a community of learners for whom there is always more to be known and understood. For me, learning and teaching is cognitive, social and emotional and takes the whole self. Archives
July 2015
Categories
All
|