Musings from Mumbai: Fostering a climate of innovation in the middle and high schools

ASB Unplugged is a 1:1nlaptop conference for international schools, hosted by the American School of Bombay and the Laptop Institute. These are notesnfrom a session I attended on technology-related change at the secondarynlevel…

n

• Andrew Hoover, middle school principal

nn

• Devin Pratt, high school principal

nn

• Dianna Pratt, middle/high school tech coordinator

nnnnn

nn

[the educators in this room are from more countries than you probably cannplace on a map!]

n

• Change is not linear
  • Expect both bursts and delays

nn

• Complacency and resistance come from…
  • Being busy

  nn

  • Maybe being risk adverse

  nn

  • Perceived (and actual) threats to professional identity

nn

• DyKnow software really takes advantagenof the tablet PCs’ functionality, making it worth the tablets’ extra cost

nn

• Key implementation stages (from John Kotter)
  • Establish a sense of urgency
    • Generate cognitive dissonance!

  nn

  • Create a guiding coalition
    • The leadership team has to be on board

  nn

  • Develop a vision and strategy

  nn

  • Communicate the change vision
    • Repetition of message, vision, goals, etc. is key

    nn

    • Lead by example

  nn

  • Empower educators for broad-based action
    • Lots of just-in-time professional development

    nn

    • Ongoing instrucational support

    nn

    • Reliable technology and infrastructure

    nn

    • Small, frequent, purposeful meetings

  nn

  • Generate short-term wins
    • Teacher-sponsored demos and highlights, tied into concept of enduringnunderstandings
      • Repetition of this gradually overcomes the resisters

    nn

    • Teachers are asked to use DyKnow just once and have the lesson observed tonget feedback

    nn

    • There is a curriculum to foster a sense of responsibility amongnstudents
      • Students carry around eggs first; if an egg breaks, the student has to gonthrough a process before she gets another one

      nn

      • Later students graduate to laptops but have to leave them at school

      nn

      • Finally students get the laptops 24–7

  nn

  • Consolidate gains and produce further changes
    • “You don’t know how comfortable you are until you start moving on”

    nn

    • Keep stressing ‘here’s where we were 2 years ago and look how much progressnwe’ve made’

    nn

    • Andrew is using a blog to keep staff, students, and parents informed ofnprogress

    nn

    • Work on facilitating dispersed leadership

  nn

  • Anchor new approaches in the culture of the school
    • Recognize how culture already has changed and build upon it

    nn

    • Foster a climate of continuous improvement (kaizen)

nn

Scott’s trip to Mumbai:pics at Flickr, movies atnYouTube.

n