Download Creating Conditions for Transforming Practice Dawn Koger, PhD

Creating Conditions for
Transforming Practice
Dawn Koger, PhD
Oakland Schools
Susan Wit, MEd.,OTL
Royal Oak Schools
Learning outcomes
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Identify conditions that facilitate change
Recognize indicators of positive collaborative
relationships
Identify lessons learned and principles of
transforming practice
Be familiar with attributes of meaningful
professional development
Understand how changing practice changed
administrators, staff, families and children
CHANGE ENERGIZES
Facilitating Change – Transforming Practice
Engage and Clarify and
Focus
Validate
Action and
Assess and
Follow Up
Connect
Royal Oak
Was “Ripe” for Change
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Status Quo
Receptive due to dissatisfaction
Core of “higher ups” willing to support our change
Collaborative relationship with Oakland Schools
Sentimental Journey
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The history of our change to an early intervention
service delivery model aligned with current best
practice.
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Natural Environment
Transdisciplinary
Primary Service Provider
Routines Based
Parent Driven
Framework for Group Development
Form
 Storm
 Norm
 Perform
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First described in 1965, revised in 1977 by Bruce Tuckman
Form:
Team comes together
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Honeymoon period
Spirits are high; members are optimistic
Main task is to “sell” ideas and realize group’s purpose
Facilitator’s role: - A lot of direction and a little support
 Help
group understand charge
 Engage all members
 Create a non-judgmental accepting environment;
 Determine how team works together, responds to pressure
Storm
Team Conflict
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Different ideas compete for consideration
Discrepancy between initial hope and reality sets in
Members start to argue or disagree
Necessary but can be contentious and unpleasant
Facilitator’s role: A lot of direction and support
 Guide professional behavior to support patience,
tolerance
 Encourage all opinions and views to be shared
 Clarify work goals, objectives and individual roles
 Draw out and resolve differences
 Move through…not avoid!
Royal Oak’s “Not So Perfect” Storm
Identify the Issues
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Personal
 “I
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have to do what?”
Interpersonal
 Timing
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of participants
Intrapersonal
 Economic,
Social, Union, Skill Set, Family Perceptions
Norm:
A growing sense of togetherness
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Create a mutual plan for the team with a clear purpose
Sort out personal conflicts and roles
Focus on work that needs to be done
People start to help one another and have ambition to
work for team success
Facilitator’s role: A little direction and a lot of support
 Step
back and allow team decision making
 Balance focus on people and the work
 Reinforce
 Ensure
results and maintain trust among the members
communication is effective
Norm:
Royal Oak’s team plan
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“Standard Bearer”
Intra-team selling
Team building
Team goals and mission
Perform:
Team Reaches Optimal Performance
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Team is knowledgeable, motivated, competent,
autonomous
Function as a unit to get the job done effectively and
with little conflict or the need for supervision
Recognizes importance of fine tuning
Facilitator’s role: A little direction and support
 Remain
involved but allow team to direct self
 Focus on performance management and motivation
Perform:
Royal Oak’s High Performance Team
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Change to recognize a benefit
Ongoing process of fine tuning
Change is continuous
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plan, do, implement
the journey is a circle
Standards drive change
Our Mantra:
Change is not important
Change is everything!
Why can’t they change?
(Or won’t they - don’t they)
Hill?
Environmental or
procedural
obstacles
Will?
Motivational
obstacles
Skill?
Lack of
knowledge or
abilities
Adapted from Tools of the Trade by Larry Edelman, presented at the
National Training Institute, March 2012
Skill:
What “Learners” Wanted
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To learn when they wanted to
What they felt they needed to
In an informal setting
With hands – on experiences
And practical assimilation
Skill:
Professional Development Plan
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Started with a needs assessment
Researched national evidenced based recommendations
Set regular times to come together outside of team time
Organized book studies, article analysis, literature
reviews, online searches
Encouraged reflective practice, facilitated dialogue,
debate
Facilitated skill building sessions regarding “deficit areas”
Invited team to teach others, conduct PD at other local
districts, present at conferences, write and submit a
journal article
How to Transform Your Practice
(According to Royal Oak’s Early Intervention Team)
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Be open to change.
Check your attitude (your ego,
your assumptions) at the door.
Be prepared to have a new
perspective – and willing to
understand the perspective of
others.
Get the support of
administration.
Be flexible.
Know where you’re going. You
have to have guiding principles
to guide decision making.
Know that trust is essential.
Make time for team time. (There
never is “enough” time.)
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Know that change gets harder
before it gets easier.
Be willing to admit that you
don’t have all the answers.
Focus on what’s good for
families and children, not
necessarily what’s good for me.
Be vulnerable. Admit to your
team what you don’t think you
can do, what you need to know,
how you need to grow.
Write it down. Create a
handbook that documents
journey and leads to a set of
protocol/operating
guidelines/procedures.
Remember…It almost always comes
down to relationships.
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Every relationship has the potential and power to
enhance other associated relationships.
(Gilkerson & Taylor Ritzler, in press; Weston et al, 1997)
Administrative support sets the tone for the quality of
supervisor-practitioner relationships.
 Supervisory relationships can enhance practitioner-practitioner
relationships and practitioner-parent relationships.
 All of these relationships, in turn, strengthen parent-child
relationships.
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It is through these essential interrelated relationships
that we create a web of support for our young
children.
(Larry Edelman, 2005)
CHANGE
ENERGIZES
(yes it bears repeating)
Most importantly,
How have children and
families changed?
Questions?