Tuesday, June 20, 2006

The Ripple Effect and Leadership

Another recent Brian Crosby post at Learning Is Messy got me thinking. His post was titled, Change—Start a Ripple. I do agree that change has to start with each of us. When we feel overwhelmed by mandates and politics, working on ourselves is the only way we can keep our sanity (and grow in the process).

Our schools have many people that are willing to start the process of changing themselves - using new technologies and teaching in new ways. This is evident in the pockets of effective technology use that we see in our schools. But what about the rest of the teachers and administrators? Why aren’t they catching on? This shouldn’t be a blame game; that won’t move us forward. But is it because the individuals are not motivated? Or is it because the system hasn’t encouraged and engaged us to begin the process of change. This is where I see leadership as so important. There is enough responsibility to be shared by both the institution and the individual. Good leaders encourage or discourage through their actions (even if they don’t intend to). Good leaders develop a culture where those ripples of change turn in to a wave of change. In what ways do school leaders allow those pockets of change, those ripples, to permeate throughout their school culture turning into waves?

Posted by Randy on 06/20 at 06:29 PM
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