Choosing Effective Drivers for

Choosing Effective Drivers for

• Choosing Effective Drivers for

• Whole System Reform

• Michael Fullan

• Ontario, Canada

• Strong Performers and Successful Reformers

• Lessons from PISA

• OECD-Tokyo, Japan Seminar

• June 28-29, 2011

• www.michaelfullan.ca

On the Dangers of misinterpreting Lessons from PISA.

• On the Dangers of misinterpreting Lessons from PISA.

• Ontario illustration

• Advice to Japan

• Questions/Comments from the Floor

Accountability vs Capacity Building

• Accountability vs Capacity Building

• Individual vs Teamwork

• Technology vs Pedagogy

• Piecemeal vs Systemic

Wrong Driver: a deliberate lead policy/strategy force that has little chance of achieving the result

• Wrong Driver: a deliberate lead policy/strategy force that has little chance of achieving the result

• Right Driver: lead policy/strategy with a high chance of achieving the result

Intrinsic motivation

• Intrinsic motivation

• Engage students and teachers in continuous improvement

• Inspire teamwork

• Affect 100% of students and teachers

Right (dominant) vs Wrong (second tier) drivers

• Right (dominant) vs Wrong (second tier) drivers

• Sequence is critical

• Cohesion, not just alignment

You need to understand the basic philosophy and ‘feel’ that effective system leaders grasp—not a patchwork of good ad hoc ideas, but an integrated ‘cohesive system’ of a small number of core things that they do well and persistently

• You need to understand the basic philosophy and ‘feel’ that effective system leaders grasp—not a patchwork of good ad hoc ideas, but an integrated ‘cohesive system’ of a small number of core things that they do well and persistently

It is not Centralization vs Decentralization but rather what parts you centralize and decentralize and how they work together

• It is not Centralization vs Decentralization but rather what parts you centralize and decentralize and how they work together

• When you decentralize how do you get ‘systemness’.

• It is not local autonomy that is important but locals working as peers in a transparent way to get results, supported and monitored by the center (see McKinsey finding)

Poor to Fair - 50/50%

• Poor to Fair - 50/50%

• Fair to Good - 45/55%

• Good to Great -33/67%

• Great to Excellent - 22/78%

Direction from the center re core goals.

• Direction from the center re core goals.

• Partnership with the sector in pursuit of the goals.

• Transparency of results and practice

• Monitoring and non-judgmental intervention

Capacity building, engagement and trust building across schools and regions.

• Capacity building, engagement and trust building across schools and regions.

• Openness of sharing

• Builds mutual allegiance and collaborative competition

The finding that student learning cannot rise above the quality of teachers is being dangerously misunderstood.

• The finding that student learning cannot rise above the quality of teachers is being dangerously misunderstood.

• The 30% myth.

• The big driver is not human capital but social capital.

• What you do AFTER teachers begin their jobs is more important than what you do before/working conditions are key.

Social capital drives human capital more than the other way around

• Social capital drives human capital more than the other way around

• Social capital across the system not just within schools (clusters,pairing,learning from other successes)

• In all of this, focus, precision, pre-occupation with implementation

• McKinsey finding

Poor to Fair - Basics of literacy & numeracy

• Poor to Fair - Basics of literacy & numeracy

• Fair to Good - Getting foundations in place

• Good to Great - Shaping the professional

• Great to Excellent - Improving through peers and innovation

Technology has been winning the race over pedagogy for the past 40 years

• Technology has been winning the race over pedagogy for the past 40 years

• Technology is more seductive than pedagogy

• Deepen instruction and harness technology—this is the correct sequence

Back to the feel, underpinnings that shapes the strategy: continuous integration and cohesion

• Back to the feel, underpinnings that shapes the strategy: continuous integration and cohesion

• Constantly, deliberately and transparently connecting the dots. Overdetermine systemness.

Public goals and targets

• Public goals and targets

• Clear strategy, strong leadership at all levels

• Beyond projects to system change

• Sector support: partnership, positive two-way communication.

• Policy is supportive

Sector capacity: helping people do better.

• Sector capacity: helping people do better.

• Support well-grounded practices: build on what already works; minimize “mandates” but work toward quality consistent practice with continuous improvement.

• Stay focused over the years. Adjust as needed

• Coherence and alignment.

The Right Changes

• The Right Changes

• Change teaching and learning practices in all schools

• - Best evidence
• - Student engagement

• Reach out to parents and community

• Build sector capacity and commitment

• Improve leadership skills

• Approach curriculum and assessment as servants, not masters

Where to Focus

• Where to Focus

• Think ‘system’ more than ‘school’

• All schools need to improve

• Specific attention to:

• - Low-performing schools
• - “Coasting” schools
• - Priority groups (Minorities, ESL, special education)

Implementation

• Implementation

• Focus on system and whole school changes

• - Avoid “projects”

• Create infrastructure

• - Relevant to the size of the challenge
• - Support people as well as resources
• - Ontario examples – LNS, L18

• Be relentless about reminders, events, and supports

• Build research, evaluation, and data

Capacity to Deliver

• Capacity to Deliver

• Fullan’s ‘tri-level solution’

• State departments/ministries need lots of change

• Never initially designed to support improvement

• Alignment of policy and approach across units

• - This is very hard to do

• Same at district level

Danger of getting the lessons wrong

• Danger of getting the lessons wrong

• Great capacity IF the right lessons are incorporated

• Don’ts and Do’s for Japan given their situation and current plan

Don’t rely too heavily on governance and related structural reform (roles of govt, prefectures, municipalities, schools)

• Don’t rely too heavily on governance and related structural reform (roles of govt, prefectures, municipalities, schools)

• Don’t rely on increasing accountability

• Don’t rely on top-down workshops

• Don’t rely on revision of courses

• Don’t rely on smaller class sizes

• Don’t rely on individual school management

• Don’t rely on check and improve cycle (unless it is embedded in the day to day work)

Focus on a small number of core goals (literacy, math, science).

• Focus on a small number of core goals (literacy, math, science).

• Take advantage of lesson planning capacity to focus and leverage social capital. Schools learning from each other.

• Do find and spread best practice-who is getting best results re ‘improving lower ranks’; re ‘ improving top proficiency’.

• Work on enjoyment and engagement of students (teacher role, student peers)

Do reduce administrative load of school leaders and support learning on the job, backed up by professional development (PD is not the driver, it is the reinforcer)

• Do reduce administrative load of school leaders and support learning on the job, backed up by professional development (PD is not the driver, it is the reinforcer)

• Create a climate and strategy for leanring from prefectures that are getting best results.

• Build partnerships with parents and the communities

Waterslide

• Waterslide

THANK YOU

• THANK YOU

Wrong drivers don’t work

• Wrong drivers don’t work

• Right drivers do

Attitude/Philosophy: Focus on improvement

• Attitude/Philosophy: Focus on improvement

• Transparency of results and practice

Capacity Building

• Capacity Building

• Teamwork

• Instruction

• Systemic

Learning-instruction nexus

• Learning-instruction nexus

• Social capital

• Pedagogy matches technology

• Systemic synergy

All means all

• All means all

• Raise the bar, close the gap

• Individual and collective capacity of educators

• Precision/specificity

• Deep student engagement

• Measureable improvement/results

Fullan, M. (2011). Choosing the wrong drivers for whole system reform. Melbourne, AU., Centre for Strategic Education, Seminar Series. 2011.

• Fullan, M. (2011). Choosing the wrong drivers for whole system reform. Melbourne, AU., Centre for Strategic Education, Seminar Series. 2011.

• Levin, B. (2011). System improvement. Presentation at PARCC, Washington, DC. June, 2011.

• Mourshed, M., Chinezi, C., & Barber, M. (2010). How the world’s most improved systems keep getting better. London: McKinsey & Company.