I just pulled a book off my bookshelf that I had read years ago about organizing your time. One of the most important things I learned was what the author called "The Slight Edge Principle" which states "Small changes, over time, make a big difference."
Wow, what an insight for those of us who grew up perfectionists. In fact, this is an important concept for schools to embrace. We as educators NEVER do things in small ways. We start a huge initiative, spend tons of money on consultants, materials, teacher professional development, etc. Three years down the line something new comes along, at it either gets lost and forgotten or it actually contradicts what is important at this point in time.
I call this the "soup du jour" method of teacher professional development. We don't pilot it, we don't gather quantifiable data on the outcomes, we rarely are concerned about implementing new initiatives with fidelity (i.e., being sure we implement a program EXACTLY as it is intended to be), etc. We are quick to "throw the baby out with the bath water" as we run like heck to the next "new idea" the powers that be impose on us. No wonder teachers are cynical about training, support and implementation mandates.
My goal is to follow the "Slight Edge Principle" from now on. In fact, that's how I'll use my blog; follow it and each day you may find one small tidbit you either knew before and forgot, heard about but had never tried, or never heard before. All I ask is that you try at least one idea for yourself...just one...and let me know how it went.
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1 comment:
Hi Terri, I'm a principal of a small P-12 school in Vic, Aust. In the last 6 weeks i have stumbled across a number of ideas or philosophies that seem to me to have great application to schools. 'Slight edge' is one, and it seems to be another way of expressing the Japanese idea of 'kaisen', that is small steps will lead to big changes. One critical factor is that we all make many small decisions each day, often without realising the long term impact. Small errors of judgement compounded over time can land us in big trouble, can develop as poor relationships within a school, ineffective practices and a loss of morale and energy. Good choices, pro-active, wise and thoughtful steps that require empathy and discipline also have huge long term impact, but may be impercetible at first. As you know, schools are communities, and work best when people work as teams, look out for each other, plan and strategise together and enjoy times of relaxation as well as grinding away. Just determining to be supportive or encouraging to one colleague today can change the the mood of a staffroom or a working relationship. The other philosophy I have been working on is called 'Finding Flow'- it helps identify friction and resistance in relationships or ways of working that make a job hard work. we all want to improve ouor students learning, work more efficiently, get greater satisfaction from our work. we canachieve it with small simple steps rather than the huge changes you so accurately describe as typical of the approach in education.
Stephen Leslie
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