I Hear Voices

I can imagine that some who read the title of this post are thinking that this is a strange place for me to reveal a psychiatric disorder!  I seek to be vulnerable with my writing, but that type of revelation is not my purpose here.  Folks in education circles these days know there is a strong push to hear everyone’s voice as a driver for our work.  When we consult students to inform decision-making that involves them, we make better choices.  Involving staff in designing changes that impact their role, results in ownership.  Honoring parent voice can increase the chance that they will advocate for our campuses and serve as ambassadors for the work we do.  How can we be servant leaders without seeking the input and involvement of those we seek to serve?  I value these voices.  What I want to explore here is something different.

Last school year we began exploring our strengths by using the Clifton StrengthsFinder 2.0 assessment produced by the folks at Gallup.  This survey identifies 5 of your top strengths from a group of 34.  The deeper I get into this work, the more uncanny I find it to be in describing the core of who I am.  While in a district level professional learning session last month, one of our district administrators described those individuals who have the “Achiever” strength as having to live with the “whisper of discontent.”  That sent me down a reflective path about how my own strengths whisper to me as quiet voices of action.  What I am realizing is that ignoring those voices is just as dangerous as ignoring the voices of the individuals we seek to serve.  What follows are my strengths in rank order, the Gallup generated descriptor, and my thoughts around them.

Strategic – People who are especially talented in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot relevant patterns and issues.  My strategic inner voice constantly speaks to me about tweaking processes in an effort to increase productivity.  It hisses in my ear a distaste for the status quo.  It moans when the phrase, “We’ve always done it this way” is uttered.  It reminds me to look down the road to plan ahead. 

Positivity – People who are especially talented in the Positivity theme have an enthusiasm that is contagious.  They are upbeat and can get others excited about what they are going to do.  “Pollyanna” whispers her perpetual optimism to me even in challenging situations.  I have worked to project this voice to those around me who I feel are worth celebrating, in the moment I hear it.  My New Year’s resolution has been to speak the positive to others, even if the timing seems awkward.  This is a commitment I intend to keep for the long-term.

Arranger – People who are especially talented in the Arranger theme can organize, but also have a flexibility that complements this ability.  They like to figure out how all of the pieces and resources can be arranged for maximum productivity.  This inner voice warns me away from hiring others who are just like me.  It celebrates and recognizes that diversity of thought and ideas creates synergy when building teams.  This whisper speaks the virtues of connecting people for collaborative work.

Ideation – People who are especially talented in the Ideation theme are fascinated by ideas.  They are able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena. This voice frequently whispers the phrase, “What if…?” It can drive me down a path to question why things are done the way they are.  This voice is pleased when pondering.  In my journey to open my new campus, this voice has become increasingly vocal!

Relator – People who are especially talented in the Relator theme enjoy close relationships with others.  They find deep satisfaction in working hard with friends to achieve a goal.  This small voice always speaks of a simple story.  It articulates complex ideas in plainspoken language that others connect to and find practical.  It rejoices when I am working with my close associates on work that truly matters. 

What steps can you take to amplify the quiet, whispering voices that speak to you from your areas of strength?

1)      Purposely discover you own strengths – Aristotle is credited with the quote, “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”  Can you currently articulate your own strengths and apply them to your professional and personal life?  I don’t know of a better resource for this discovery than taking the StrengthsFinder assessment.  Tom Rath’s book entitled StrengthsFinder 2.0 not only contains an access code for the assessment, it serves as a perfect resource to begin understanding how to use your strengths. (Click here to find out more about the book) Specifically you will find that each strength theme has a number of “ideas for action” that will help you get started.

2)      Stifle that voice that drives you to be “well-rounded” in all areas – Few things disengage people more than working in their areas of deficit.  What engages us are the things that we perceive ourselves as doing well.  If you show me a struggling reader who can make others laugh, I can almost bet you he will be a class clown in language arts class!  Granted, there are some skills that we all must master such as reading.  In other areas, it is a much better investment in your time and energy to sharpen yourself in your areas of strength.  These are the areas where our passions lie.

3)      Discover the strengths of those around you and leverage them for success – Purposefully using the StrengthsFinder with those who you interact with is where the real power is in this work.  I gave copies of StrengthsFinder 2.0 to my wife and grown kids.  We then shared our strengths to deepen our connection and understanding of one another.  The entire staff at my new campus will be taking the assessment and we will be using this common vocabulary and understand to build our community.  My PTA Executive Board will be discovering each other’s strengths.  Even my students will take the age-appropriate StrengthsExplorer assessment to become more self-aware.  For this work, StrengthsFinder 2.0 has an area under each them that guides you how to work with others in THEIR area of strength.  The end goal is to create a strengths-based culture that drives our engagement and celebrates our diversity.

4)      Quiet the voice of busy – So often when I am not hearing my small strengths-based voices it is because of time pressures.  This loud, bullying voice sounds like the sassy quote from Sweet Brown, “Ain’t nobody got time for that!”(Click here for a smile) Rarely are issues as time-pressured as we make them out to be.  Do you find time each day to reflect?  Do you have a reflective partner that you regularly connect with?

We all have the voice of self-talk that we hear every day.  What do your small voices say to you?  If you are purposeful in discovering your strengths, you will have the discernment to know which voices to amplify and act upon.  

The Devil is in the Differentiation

Public education is in an engagement crisis. One of the most common concerns I hear from teachers is that their students are not engaged. If you gather a group of experienced principals together and talk to them about their top roadblocks to transformation on their campus, a lack of teacher engagement will be at or near the top of the list. According to Gallup research in 2012 only one in three U.S. teachers, K-12, are engaged in their job. Principals and district level leaders are not immune to disengagement. At almost any meeting or professional learning session all one has to do is look around the room and see a variety of folks engaged with their electronic device and not in the topic at hand.  Disengagement is a killer of learning and productivity at every level! How do we turn this around?

Some would argue that we could address this through punitive measures. Teachers continue to take points away for late work, record zeros for undone assignments and keep disengaged students after school. Principals document teachers who are unmotivated and not taking care of students and other professional expectations.

Others would argue that we can motivate others best through reward systems. Many schools, including mine, have token economies and prize structures to recognize positive behavior. Teachers give bonus points or extra credit for students who scramble at the last minute for a passing grade. A jeans pass for teachers is the order of the day for staff rewards. Some school systems offer staff members merit pay for what is seen as exceptional performance based upon test scores.

What we do know is that these external motivators do increase the level of behavioral engagement or compliance. This is not enough. Quiet classrooms and cooperative employees are no guarantee for student achievement or staff engagement. We must move beyond mere compliance if we want to maximize everyone's potential.  What we need is cognitive engagement. Creativity and critical thinking live here. So how do we reach people so that they are motivated intrinsically to engage at a meaningful level?

Daniel Pink does a fine job of shining a light in the dark places surrounding what motivates people. He shares research that shows that extrinsic motivators, like money, increase performance for linear tasks and those that require mechanical skills.  The same does not hold true for high level thinking tasks. 

Pink describes three factors that lead to better performance. (Click here to see the video) These are autonomy, mastery and a sense of purpose. If you are struggling to engage others ask yourself these questions:

• How am I providing choice for those I wish to engage?
• How am I determining where people are in terms of their competencies and support them on their journey to achieve mastery?
• What am I doing to make this work tie into a larger purpose?

I believe that these three areas speak to the need to personalize learning.  When it comes to personalizing learning, the devil is in the differentiation.  I hold Carol Ann Tomlinson as my top influencer when it comes to understanding what differentiation is and what it is not.  She has produced a number of books and other resources that will support interested educators seeking to become more masterful.  There are two key characteristics that she identifies for instructional consideration that align well with Pink’s research.  Tomlinson describes “interest” as what the learner enjoys learning about, thinking about and doing.  If we can give the learner the autonomy to choose, we are drawing from what drives from within.  A second characteristic that Tomlinson describes is “readiness.”  Readiness can be defined as the learner’s current knowledge, understanding, or skill set related to the learning target.  Establishing readiness provides a starting point for us to begin growing others toward mastery.  Human nature tends to predispose us to enjoy the things we are good at.  When we support growing our learners from where they are toward mastery, we again draw on their internal motivation and increase engagement. 

In the paragraph above I was purposeful in choosing the descriptor, “the learner.” Many would assume I am referring to students and the need for teachers to personalize their instruction.  This idea is bigger than that.  It applies to all of us at every level in the education world.  It is the highest form of hypocrisy when leaders ask others to do what we are unwilling to do. This is not easy work, given limited resources, time constraints, and the factory model that constrains much of our system.  These constraints define the box that we must innovate within. 

If we hope to break the trend in which shifting demographics are the best predictor of student achievement, we must differentiate to personalize learning for our students.  If we are to ameliorate the crisis of teacher disengagement, we must differentiate to personalize their professional learning.  If we are to engage education leaders and empower them to model this practice, personalization is again a must. 

I am encouraged that the State of Texas is moving to a system that has the potential to support the type of personalization we all deserve as educators.  If used appropriately as a tool for reflective practice, the proficiency scales embedded within the teacher system, T-TESS, have great potential.  These rubrics will provide the structure to have instructional conversations that are deeper and more focused than ever before.  It appeals to me that, as a principal, I will have the same type of scale to give direction to my personalized learning through the T-PESS framework. It is so powerful when our practices and expectations align at every level.  

Like most growth that leads to positive change, this will no doubt create discomfort for us all.  Are you willing to do the hard work and lean into this discomfort as a teacher...principal...central office administrator?  We are all charged with becoming the designers of engaging experiences. I am committed to fully engage in this work for my staff.  Let's model what we want for ourselves, each other, and most of all, our students.  We ALL deserve it!  

Feel free to leave your comments/thoughts/ideas below.  This is a discourse worth having.  Let's talk!