As we push through to the end of a very challenging year and
begin planning for September, we are feeling the tug of two opposing forces.
The tug is the pressure between just maintaining status quo in our school versus
forging ahead and making changes. These changes include not only adding an extra period to
our day because of increased enrollment but also the desire to maintain pace with
the 21st century model of education.
Maintaining the status quo is the natural instinct:
keeping our heads down, our noses to the grindstone and doing our best to make it to
the end of the school year, avoiding as many potholes as possible.
It’s the “smooth it over the best you can” approach. To a large extent, the
labour unrest has forced us to have this approach for most of this year. Yes we
have made some small changes due to policies adjustments from the school district and responses
to job action but, for the most part, maintaining the status quo has proven
to be the only option.
As we plan for next year, the status quo isn’t an option. We are being forced to retool our daily class schedule to a flexible schedule with five periods in a day instead of four. Unfortunately,
this change cannot be sidestepped. The question we face as we navigate this
change is to either embrace it and use it to springboard into a 21st
century example of change, or to seek to minimize the change and strive for status quo. What we’re really talking about is the management
of change and the fear of change. In the 70’s, Edward Deming recognized the
debilitating effects of fear in the work place when he coined the phrase “Drive
the Fear out of the System”. In order to
use our mandated change to maximum benefit, we must navigate the BCTF's desire to define every work minute and at the same time, drive
the fear out of our system.
As we plan and prepare for next year, we find ourselves at a cross
roads where we can really make a difference for what is in the best interest of
kids. Our springboard could include more flexibility and a 21st
century modeled delivery of education. For the most part, our staff, even in
these difficult times, has been very receptive and has contributed to a great
number of creative discussions. We recognize that the forces at play are extremely
alluring, the politics confusing, and the timing terrible. In spite of all this, we believe that our change is going to be a significant
milestone that will be looked back upon as a renaissance in our school culture.
The conundrum we face in the ebb and flow of our
change process is that the labour unrest has eroded what we have come to know as
the status quo. The need to align our day with minute-to-minute contractual
obligations is in some ways eroding teacher autonomy and professionalism. Are those teachers who have consistently demonstrated leadership now calculating their
participation in the context of defined “work” hours? As we wind down this year and
plan for the next, we can’t help but wonder if we will ever recover the true
professional spirit of what it means to be an educator. One thing is certain, the
erosion of the status quo will either serve as a springboard for educational change,
or it will further continue to divide the masses.
Identify the stakeholders… Trust the process… Trust the people…
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