MAKING SCHOOLS WORK FOR EVERYBODY

CRISIS IN SCHOOL MANAGEMENT: Making Schools Work for Everybody

We've had well over a century of failed school reforms, yet we keep trying to reform our schools, hoping to finally make them effective. Even the No Child Left Behind program is not really fully improving our schools. Why do most attempts at reforming our schools fail? They fail because the school management system is structured in the out dated style of 19th-century manufacturing -- a bureaucratic management that imposes its will on the school culture without collaborating with everyone. That's a surefire way to fail and it's a way that does not create an effective learning environment. Schools cannot be reformed; they must be TRANSFORMED into organizations that are democratically managed.

There is compelling evidence that democratically run organizations are highly effective. In this lens and in greater detail in my book, CRISIS IN SCHOOL MANAGEMENT, (free e-book), you will find this compelling evidence, and you will find how to build a positive environment in which everyone matters, through a management system of collaboration -- a system that some schools are now using and a system that many successful business organizations have long been using. Below, and in my book, you will also find resources especially for management practices that help build schools that work for everyone. And in the section below called TRIM TAB ACTIVITIES, you will find simple actions that anyone can take to help initiate a turn towards this transformation.

Books for Helping to Build a Collaborative Organization

In my book CRISIS IN SCHOOL MANAGEMENT, my thesis is that democratically collaborative organizations are consistently more effective for everyone than are bureaucratic, command and control organizations. Here are some vital resources for helping build a democratically collaborative organization.

Amazon Error: Could not open remote connection

Sorry, there are no results available from Amazon.

TRIM TAB ACTIVITIES FOR TRANSFORMING A SCHOOL

MAKING SCHOOLS WORK FOR EVERYBODY

R. Buckminster Fuller once said he wanted to be a trim tab: the little rudder that turns the big rudder that turns the ship. He further added that "The child is really the trim tab of the future."In this module you'll find some trim tabs ways for helping to transform our schools.

Schools can't be reformed; they need to be transformed - - turned into places that work for everyone. They need to turn away from the outdated bureaucratic, command and control management model of the industrial era, and instead turning to the successful model of democratic collaboration practiced by many businesses and schools.

In transformed schools, everyone is mutually RESPECTED, APPRECIATED, RECOGNIZED, and RESPONSIBLE. This is especially accomplished through three management practices explained in my book. There you will also find compelling evidence of successful organizations where these practices are being used.

TRIM TAB ACTIONS
Transforming our schools may seem like a tall order, but if we remember the trim tab concept, then all that is needed is for someone to do a simple trim tab action. Here are simple trim tab actions anyone can take to begin to turn around the large ship of education.

AS A PARENT:
1. Get other parents, teachers and students to join in collecting, writing, and publishing (hard copy and web site) the school's history and the school's best practices. Gather information from alumnae, long time residents of the area, newspaper archives, politicians, business people. Explain the history behind the school's name (or number). Tell about any famous people who went to the school, and if possible, get them to make a visit to the school. Have a school history recognition day.

2. Start a study group to read/discuss books related to building an organization in which everyone matters. Some are listed above in this lens and others are in my book. Invite anyone to attend: school people, students, parents, politicians, business people, community leaders. Encourage everyone to put into practice in all aspects of their personal lives as well as in school such practices as appreciative inquiry, servant leadership, transparency, recognition, respect, and responsibility.

AS A STUDENT:
1. Initiate a newsletter of the school's history, best practices and strengths. 2. Practice being appreciative of teachers' best practices.

(Board members and administrators, see my book CRISIS IN SCHOOL MANAGEMENT at www.jamesevers.com.)

Reader Feedback

Frank

Thanks for the info

Posted April 27, 2007

What's a Democratic Organization?

The fonder of WorldBlu explains democratic organzations

Traci Fenton, WorldBlu CEO, on organizational democracy

Traci Fenton, Founder + CEO of WorldBlu Inc., talks about what organizational democracy is and isn't.

4.62

Runtime: 4:28
1859 views
2 Comments:

powered by YouTube

GLOSSARY

Terms used in Crisis in School Management: Making Schools Work for Everyone

To help you start an understanding of some of the practices used in organizations that work well for everyone, here is a glossary of these practices. I write in detail about these in my book Crisis in School Management (free download at jamesevers.com).

SERVANT LEADERSHIP (SL)
A worldwide practice, SL was initiated in the 1960s by Robert Greenleaf. It is both a philosophy and a practice calling for leaders to be resourceful servants and role models to those whom they serve (lead). And it is a call for all other members and stakeholders to do the same for those whom they serve. A key concept is that the leader is servant first but considers her/himself to be first among equals, not a boss over others.
(See www.greenleaf.org)

APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY (AI)
Initiated in the 1980s by David Cooperrider, and practiced world wide, AI is a positive change or renewal process that focuses on the strengths and best practices in an organization, a systematic discovery of what gives "life" to an organization when it is most effective. (See appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/)

OPEN BOOK MANAGEMENT/TRANSPARANCY
Open book management, initiated by Jack Stack in the late 1980s, and practiced world wide, is a management process that gives all employees the key financial numbers of an organization as well as a stake (ownership) in the outcome. It makes all employees stewards of the well being of the organization and of each other. (See www.ggob.com)

Share your knowledge. Make a difference.

MAKING SCHOOLS WORK FOR EVERYBODY

Rate this Lens

CRISIS IN SCHOOL MANAGEMENT: Making Schools Work for Everybody

Explore related pages

Books for Helping to Build a Collaborative Organization

TRIM TAB ACTIVITIES FOR TRANSFORMING A SCHOOL

MAKING SCHOOLS WORK FOR EVERYBODY

Reader Feedback

What's a Democratic Organization?

The fonder of WorldBlu explains democratic organzations

Traci Fenton, WorldBlu CEO, on organizational democracy

GLOSSARY

Terms used in Crisis in School Management: Making Schools Work for Everyone

Links for Making Schools and All Organizations Work for Everyone

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

#13

#14

#15

#16

#17

#18

#19

#20

#21

#22

#23

#24

#25

#26

#27

Voila: Just copy and paste this code into your own site. Have fun!

Oopsey! Please login to Squidoo in order to add this module to your lens.

Additional Resources on Making Schools Work for Everyone

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

#13

#14

#15

#16

#17

#18

#19

#20

#21

#22

#23

#24

#25

#26

#27

#28

#29

#30

#31

#32

#33

Voila: Just copy and paste this code into your own site. Have fun!

Oopsey! Please login to Squidoo in order to add this module to your lens.

^#1

^#2

^#3

^#4

^#5

^#6

^#7

^#8

^#9

^#10

^#11

^#12

^#13

^#14

^#15

^#16

^#17

^#18

^#19

^#20

^#21

^#22

^#23

^#24

^#25

^#26

^#27

^#1

^#2

^#3

^#4

^#5

^#6

^#7

^#8

^#9

^#10

^#11

^#12

^#13

^#14

^#15

^#16

^#17

^#18

^#19

^#20

^#21

^#22

^#23

^#24

^#25

^#26

^#27

^#28

^#29

^#30

^#31

^#32

^#33