We had our 3-day summer retreat for the leadership team last
week. To get it off to a great start we
brought in Dr. Bill Daggett, Founder and CEO of the International Center for
Leadership in Education (ICLE). www.leadered.com I had heard him speak before and wanted him
to address our principals, directors and supervisors.
One of his key messages is “Culture Trumps Strategy”. I wrote it down often.
I’ve done a little research to see if he owns this
phrase. As near as I can tell, he does
not. There are some who credit business
guru Peter Drucker with saying “culture eats strategy for breakfast” but that
appears to be an urban myth. Still I
found that lots of business people have written on the topic. For them, it suggests that the norms of the
work environment – if built on trust, if all are working on the same goal, if
creativity and respectful disagreement are encouraged – are more important than
the strategy to reach corporate goals.
During the industrial age the worker fit the company mold. The bosses in the head shed planned the
strategy for increased profit. Today
technology as well as family values are
having a big impact on the work place and businesses are evolving to understand
how the worker and the culture in which the worker works, has an impact on the
bottom line.
So what does “Culture Trumps Strategy” mean for the schools?
First it means abandoning the industrial age factory model
that we all know as school. Eric
Sheninger, a Senior Fellow and Thought Leader at ICLE and author of Uncommon Learning: Creating Schools That
Work for Kids, lays out his thoughts on what it takes to personalize the
learning experience, make it more relevant to the future.
He calls for using technology in such a way that it is a
tool to enhance the culture of learning.
It can provide real world learning experiences that are more in tune
with student interests. It can make the
curriculum more real and complement the good work that is already happening in
the schools.
What does that look like in Calvert County Public
Schools?
I think we are well on our way in some aspects of this
work. We have been a BYOD (Bring Your
Own Device) district for a number of years.
Our libraries have been converting into maker spaces and 1 hour flex
lunches at all of our high schools and most of our middle schools have
contributed greatly to a culture of independence, empowerment and personalized
learning for our students.
We have supported an entrepreneurial culture allowing
several of our schools to experiment with 1:1 laptop initiatives, digital
curriculum and support, blended learning and project-based learning.
Calvert County Schools have a reputation for innovation and
high achievement, but we cannot sit on past practices and expect to sustain
that result. It is the Principal and
the teachers at each and every school that will create its culture. That culture, if based upon a common vision
for our children, will support the best instructional practices and
opportunities for success and see that each child leaves with a real world
skill-set and a plan for success.