Gates Foundation Funds Program That Brings Organizational Learning to Educators
by Kali Saposnick

from Leverage Points Issue 48

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When asked to design and direct an educational leadership program that would ultimately improve student performance, Lynda Irvin and Julie Schlichting saw the chance to create a unique curriculum. It was 1999, and the Illinois State University College of Education had just been awarded a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Leadership Challenge Grant to help K–12 school leaders gain skills at the personal, organizational, and technological levels. The grant included three key components to guide the program design: the national standards for school leadership, the Baldrige criteria for excellence in education, and technology applications. To weave together these seemingly disparate elements, Lynda and Julie adopted a systems thinking approach to leadership development.

As they designed the new program, called Illinois Technology and Leadership for Change (ITLC), the codirectors integrated many opportunities for participants to collaborate in surfacing and examining the systems in which they worked. Their goal was to create an environment in which administrators could shift away from the tendency to blame individuals or groups for problems in education toward identifying concrete ways to produce effective school programs. Over the last four years, the program has trained more than 1,700 administrators from all over the state, 98 percent of whom would recommend this program to their colleagues. In addition, Lynda and Julie's wise use of grant money and matching funds has enabled ITLC to expand into the Illinois School Leaders Development Institute (ISLDI), which opens on July 1, 2004.

Stories That Illuminate the System
This spring ITLC is hosting "Leaders Paying Forward: Practicing the Democratic Ideal," a conference to further participants' exposure to the program, its conceptual frameworks, and essential tools for leadership. One of those tools is the popular Learning Fables series published by Pegasus Communications. Lynda and Julie began using the fables in the program because the entertaining stories engage participants, and the concise discussion guides effectively link organizational learning lessons with practical applications in the workplace. As Lynda says, "One of the things I know from being a trainer and a school administrator for the last 20 years is that you can spend 14 hours talking about systems theory and people will probably tune out, but if you can give them a compelling story, they get the point."

An activity based on the learning fables serves as the culminating event in ITLC's three-day training programs. In the first two days, the group works to define the systems in which they operate, in particular, by understanding the dynamics of feedback loops, including:

• the deluge of data that engulfs administrators and teachers, often driving them to make decisions based on opinion rather than fact;
• a silo mentality that leads administrators and teachers to work within the confines of their roles rather than collaborate and share valuable information; and
• a quick-fix approach to problem-solving that sends many educators searching for a silver bullet, instead of a long-term solution, for daunting challenges.

Once the group can "see" the system, they begin to identify ways to change it. At the same time, they work to build in a continuous improvement process to ensure that rote responses are challenged and any new action plan fits in with what the group is already doing.

When participants are introduced to Outlearning the Wolves: Surviving and Thriving in a Learning Organization (written by David Hutchens and illustrated by Bobby Gombert), their response is always enthusiastic. "They love the activity we put together," says Julie, who created a game based on the story to illuminate different leadership styles and issues. "The lessons from the fable align with the Baldrige core values and categories we are working on as part of the Gates grant requirements. The two fit together perfectly as a cycle or process for change."

Outlearning the Wolves chronicles the activities of a flock of sheep who, through fear of the wolves' cleverness, are initially debilitated by fragmentation and false assumptions. But as the sheep build a culture for learning, the contributions of each individual are utilized in strikingly new and productive ways, allowing them to thrive while facing fresh challenges. In ITLC's "Learning Community Match Game," participants compare the leadership styles of two sheep, Otto and Marietta, using seven Baldrige categories, including vision, stakeholder perspective, and process management. The sheeps' two distinct methods for realizing their visions quickly become evident: Otto tends to stand alone and do everything himself; Marietta draws on everyone's skills to collect data and deal with the threat. As you can imagine, their styles produce completely different results (but don't worry—we won't spoil the ending!).

"Using the story in this way allows the group, in a non-threatening environment, to see their tendency to want to get things done quickly rather than address the root cause of problems," Julie explains. Adds Lynda: "It helps educators understand the importance of involving as many stakeholders as possible in strategic planning and in aligning people's core values with the organization's larger vision. More importantly, when we started looking at ourselves through the lens of the story, we began to deepen the conversation and change the way we respond to other people and situations."

Linking Learning to Action
How has the training affected student success at school? "We're at the beginning stage of linking the administrators' learnings to improved student performance," says Julie. "However, we are collecting their perceptions of what skills they've gained and how they're using those skills to improve their own work. Many say they're more successful in analyzing and using data. More importantly, we're seeing a change in their will, that is, their motivation to try some of these tools."

Even more telling is the participants' recognition that they need their teachers to team up with them in the ITLC program to successfully implement what they've learned. It's not coincidence that the upcoming Illinois School Leaders Development Institute will expand its audience to include all kinds of school leaders. College of Education Dean Dianne Ashby, who spearheaded the initial grant, has asked Lynda and Julie to continue directing this new program. As Lynda explains, "ISLDI is in a unique position to bring together various educators—superintendents, principals, and teachers—rather than exclude certain groups because they don't fit a particular niche. Our priority is to provide tools to school leaders so that they can continue to focus on collaboration to achieve the results they want."

Kali Saposnick is publications editor at Pegasus Communications.