School systems are social systems or what some call “human systems.” The entire structure is built around people, with planned social interactions and (get this) with a common sense of purpose. School systems, neighborhood associations, and even political parties are social systems that (if fully functioning) are designed to produce a great deal of energy and, hopefully, synergy around a common cause that brings together people and processes in connected and meaningful ways.
Let us be clear that no system can be fully mature (self-actualized) until it is fully competent and fully connected. To frame what this means, let us imagine what a school or school district would look like if it was functioning adequately per its day-to-day operations, but was not truly inspiring its employees and students and not producing dramatic results.
To the casual observer, everything appears to be in order. The system has some structure to it. There are plans and processes in place. Some successes are evident. System leaders can point to an award-winning program here or there, while other schools or departments are not meeting their full potential. Students are only somewhat engaged. Parents are only somewhat interested. The community is only somewhat proud.
Yes, the system is self-sufficient and operational. Yes, it employs people who generally get along. It provides an adequate service to those who interact with it (e.g., parents). This type of system might be described as civil, transactional, and efficient.
A system like this one is not broken. In fact, it is typical. The system does not yet realize the success it could have if it valued and embraced a bit more innovation, resourcefulness, trust, and will. Let’s ponder for a moment what such a system might look like.
Highly Connected Systems
Presenting the attributes and values of systems in human terms like “competent” or “wise” is intended to describe the great possibilities within systems that dare to know more and be more. Systems as transformational. Systems as self-actualized. A consideration of what a highly competent system might look like was explored in the previous blog post (see Part 1 of 2).
Still, as we consider a school or district that is not meeting its potential, there is more missing than system expertise or savvy. A strong thread of connectivity among people and processes is also hard to find. A system that is functioning at less-than-optimal levels tends to either breed isolation or not even recognize it.
Often, there is little coherence in thought or actions among leaders and employees. As a result, the focus is less on system outcomes and more on individual or departmental successes. When this happens, there is likely to be a quiet sense of frustration across the landscape in blaming some for not working hard enough and others for not caring enough.
Let’s return again to the struggles that our new teachers face in understanding how this plays out. There is a good chance that a new teacher is working largely in isolation and may see no true relevance to the curriculum that he or she has been asked to teach. In a very short time, a once optimistic new teacher becomes increasingly distrustful of the system and blames the district, the principal, the parents, or the students for the mess we are in.
Just down the hallway, the master teacher works in constant interaction with her students and colleagues. She sees alignment and meaning in her work. She engages with her fellow teachers through common planning and social media conversations. She is not frustrated. She is empowered. She is invigorated.
In the same manner that successful teachers thrive, systems can as well.
As human systems, schools and school districts have unique opportunities to build deep personal and professional connections among departments, employees, families, and children. This goes much further than a simple alignment of goals and outcomes. This has much more to do with planned interactions that inspire and engage teachers and students.
Within highly connected systems, schools prioritize collaboration among teachers, leaders, and students. District leaders engage in meaningful debate, accept honest disagreement and “push-back,” and limit top-down structures. Such systems value employee and student agency, voice, and choice as key ingredients to deeper system learning.
In pursuit of greater connectivity, outcome metrics such as employee satisfaction, teacher retention, school climate, and community confidence are valued, along with reading scores and graduation rates. Information-sharing and decision-making is highly transparent. Power structures are softened in favor of distributed leadership, collective struggle, and combined impact.
In support of this transition, the following steps are provided in helping schools and districts define what it means to be “highly connected.”
5 Entry Points for Highly Connected School Systems:
- Hire and retain a diverse workforce (gender, race, background, attitudes, and beliefs).
- Establish structures that connect people to people in professional and personal ways.
- Establish structures that encourage discussion within safe and supportive workplaces.
- Hire and promote leaders who highly relational and servant-minded. Distribute leadership.
- Communicate with and involve those outside the system in genuine and purposeful ways.
In deeply meaningful ways, companies or systems in search of high degrees of competence and connectivity are not seeking only to survive. They are systems with identity and purpose. They are systems with a soul.
If school systems are to reach such heights, vibrant new organizations must be built that emphasize greater connectivity and deeper purpose. Even organizations can accomplish such things. Make no mistake, the company is still designed for profit and success. It is still designed to win. It is designed as a system of high character so as to impact individual and system success, industry achievement, and even the bottom line.
In such place, the system has purpose and beliefs unto itself that are expressed through every action it takes. In such a place, the system has the ability to care for (or not) those who interact with it. It has the ability to value (or not) those who are impacted by its decisions.
The truth be told, our students, teachers, and leaders are seeking greater purpose in the things we have asked them to do, and between the things they see within our schools and those they witness on the outside.
Only a self-actualized system can provide them with those answers.
And so let the search for those connections begin. And let our schools lead the way.
Note: This article is adapted from The Instructional Soul by Daniel J. Evans (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019).
