The Collaborative Model – Part Two

Continuing with Kotter’s Model of Change, let’s take a look at step six: Ensure Short-Term Wins. Below is the list descriptors for this step.

• Engage more stakeholders to execute each item
• Make progress visible
• Recognize and reward stakeholders as they accomplish short-term goals

Did any of these steps happen? Did we even have short-term goals outlined? Possibly, but that middle step – make progress visible – was an abject failure. We were handed a directive and expected to embrace it with no specific knowledge or follow-through. It would seem teachers were placed in the same situation, though to a lesser extent.

After implementation of the Consultative Collaborative Model, in 2022, what we did get was a survey was sent out to teachers, students and parents. It may only have been sent to those who qualify for special services, but I’m not certain. The details of that survey were not fully disclosed, but there were plenty of remarks that should have created great concern and a district-wide second look at this model, but didn’t. For example: ‘I feel dumb compared to the other kids in my class’, and ‘I’m not comfortable asking questions’. Parents were talking amongst themselves about the struggles their students were having, but most were unwilling to go public. (A sad reality that continues still.)

Teachers were also talking, with a not uncommon sentiment being ‘It’s impossible for me to meet the needs of every student within this model.” With the usual behind-the-scenes rumblings – and probably a tiny handful of emails – the Superintendent apparently became aware of the displeasure, stating at one BOE meeting, “Some parents love it, and some parents hate it… Any change you take on, in any role […] there is always, ‘we’ve always been doing that this way’, so of course we’re going to have mixed results.” The very direct implication here is that according to Varley, if you hate it, it’s because you can’t deal with change. That inability to reflect inward or to consider that those on the ground might have valuable information is an unfortunate hallmark.

So how about step seven: Improve and Expand?

• Refine processes and procedures
• Build leadership capacity

To date, have there been any updates specifically directed toward the Collaborative Consultative Model? Again, perhaps. We don’t know if there have been changes. We don’t know if or how results are being tracked, and without those metrics (ugh – that word again!) how do we know what needs to be refined, what is working well, and what isn’t? There are clues emerging from educational literature. The idea of collaboration in education arose from seeing the model in health care. It has been around since the 1980’s, and from that time until about 2005 numerous articles and papers touted the benefits. From that point onward, focus has been shifting toward looking at how teachers have been implementing (or not) the model, and noting drawbacks that real-life contributes to a plan that looks great on the surface.

Next week, we’ll wrap up with a look at how the Collaborative Consultative Model is working amongst teachers, and try to get a sense of where it is most effective and helpful for students, and where it may be time to let it go.

Relevant Content:
THE COLLABORATIVE MODEL – PART ONE

The Collaborative Model – Part Three