Educator Politics Transformed

Reader's note: Walter is taking a vacation for the next two weeks. He will resume his Looking Ahead Blog the week of August 28, 2011.

Talking about transforming education…are you ready to be transformational in your politics?

What? You don’t do politics? Sure you do! Every time you advocate for your ideas, seek to improve your situation and work to influence those around you, you’re “doing” politics! In fact, one could argue from the moment we learn to manipulate our environment, we are political. So let’s not kid one another that we don’t “do” politics. Yes, this is being political on a very personal level; but that is the basis for politics at every other level.

What kind of politics do you practice? There’s many kinds. Yet how many of us deliberately choose how we operate politically? Too often we react to how we are treated or to what our immediate needs may be. This is dangerous, because if you operate out of immediate necessity, it is easy to cross lines that abrogate your responsibilities personally…professionally…ethically.

We can practice our politics in thoughtful and deliberate ways, through our

• Thoughts Instead of assuming that the world view of our parents or grandparents still holds true, asking ourselves tough questions about what we observe happening and whether or not our current understandings hold up well in the world before us…then changing our understandings based on the new answers we think through.

• Attitudes Letting go of longstanding expectations for ourselves and our students so that we can be open and receptive to alternate ways of looking at public education in this day and age…forgoing preconceived assumptions, long-held biases and reflex reactions that shut down the opportunity for honest, courageous discussion and decision-making.

• Words Choosing to use words that reflect an openness and receptivity to others and their thinking…words that validate others’ worth as stakeholders…words that communicate equality and respect…words that set a tone of collegiality and cooperation…and avoiding words that imply negative values, judgments and lack of cooperation.

• Actions Handling yourself in ways that connote confidence, competence and caring in the work that you do…advocating forthrightly for those things that promote education transformation…following through in ways that show that you are reliable and dependable…consistently representing what is in the best interests of education as a whole.

• Choices Not only making choices that are appropriate and timely, but knowing when to choose not to respond or act because that is in the interests of the greater good…in an age of media hype and sensationalism, sometimes choosing not respond in the moment carries a louder message than anything you could do or say.

Practice and combine these five attributes and you will emerge practicing transformational politics.

Here’s an example. Yesterday (Aug 6 ‘11) on Google+ a post of mine generated discussion about Lee Crockett’s Finland's Educational Success? The Anti–Tiger Mother Approach. We discussed pedagogical and cultural differences that might account for Finland’s success and how it might apply to U.S. public education. Two educators revealed political biases that kept them from considering the full range of ideas in the discussion AND had the potential to emotionally charge the thread. One participant claimed the mainstream media was controlled by conservative political interests preventing the public from knowing the truth about public education. I responded, “Let's have the education discussion without the extreme political rhetoric…I respect your right to voice your opinions, but this is the kind of thing that polarizes people to the point that no one trusts anyone enough to get anything done.” We proceeded on with the exploration of ideas when another educator asserted that a war was taking place on the middle class preventing anything from being done to improve education. I immediately replied, “didn't you just finish commenting on another post of mine that you did not approve of politicizing the discussion on education and that people should not be pitting one camp against another? Look at how your last comment starts out!” Calling it for what it was saved the discussion from tail-spinning out of control. At its conclusion a third educator commented “Walter I like the way you are trying to keep these conversations civil, allowing multiple viewpoints to be heard without anger or rancor. Thanks.”

This was transformational politics in action. Did we solve the problems of the world in one discussion? No, but we all heard one another’s constructive ideas presented in a forum of respect and understanding. Was it easy? No. Was it worthwhile? Yes. The more we can advance all discussions about public education in this way, the faster we can move education transformation forward.

Currently the national dialog on public education is media-driven, divisive, polarized and gridlocked. This is not climate in which to get anything done. It has become an endless cycle that fuels itself. Once you are on the losing end of one of a high-stakes showdown, you become more and more committed to positioning yourself to win in the future. It’s only human to do so. Consider these four dynamics in this cycle; each is a continuum that goes from the most altruistic outcome to the least:

Accomplishing <----------------> Winning

Politics is the art of bringing people and resources together around common goals in the interest of moving everyone forward together. Ideally this means things get accomplished that are valued by (at least) a majority of those involved in the process. But all too often it becomes a game of being able to force your agenda at the expense of other stakeholders. Posturing kicks in as you try to put yourself in the best position to claim that you “win.”

Consensus-Building <----------------> Polarizing Opposites

In an open, honest discussion of what is best for all involved, the art of consensus-building is critical, bringing together people of varying backgrounds, ideas and experiences into a common alliance with a commitment to get the job done. If those involved have an agenda other than to vet out the best solution, the process stalemates. People dig in on opposing sides of ideological lines and become entrenched in an “us” versus “them” standoff.

Best Possible Solution <----------------> Political Expediency

Traditional politics operates on a continuum ranging from finding the best possible solution to settling for what is immediately politically expedient. While the ideal is a rigorous examination of quality information, there are often outside pressures that make it difficult to fully vet out the best ideas. Skilled leaders try to strike a balance between getting the hard work done and being sensitive to political realities. The key is to not sacrifice the one for the other.

Altruism <----------------> Self-Interest

We all start out in education full of idealism and energy, wanting to make a difference. As reality sets in, though, we become disillusioned. Study after study shows that over time educators move from altruism to self-interest in their careers. The challenge is, at whatever point we currently find ourselves in our career as educators, to re-kindle our idealism and break this ongoing cycle. Otherwise, we are part of the problem. Like it or not, this is the public perception of us today.

Is it just public education citizens are tired of? No…it’s the entire political culture:

• This past January when Gabby Giffords was shot, liberals were insistent that it was a result of hate-speech from the conservatives that created climate ripe for such violence…yet a month later those same critics were protesting against conservative governors using hyperbole and pejoratives that were every bit as hate-filled. How quickly we forget.

• Over the past year, our elected officials spending their time and energy in a finger-pointing contest which went down to the very last day they could wait to take action and raise the debt ceiling, resulting in a plan that defers tough decisions to a bipartisan committee sometime in the future, and the downgrading of the U.S. by a prominent credit rating agency.

• This past week, when discussing the relationship educators should have with vendors in A Brief Note to K-12, the blogger advised “Don’t sell yourself short” suggesting that educators should get as much out of their vendor relationships as they are giving. I posted a comment in reply: nevermind selling yourself short…how about not selling yourself at all?

Business-as-usual politics is no longer working for us.

The good news is we’re only as stuck in this current reality as we allow our thinking to be. I appeal to your common sense and your altruism to practice a new kind of politics…transformational politics…that reflects the world changing before us…because this is our chance to change our profession.

What are the tenets of this new politics?

• Be an open, receptive straight-shooter with no personal agenda Model the positive enthusiasm, energy and actions that are necessary to transform education

• Define yourself as a leader in the field of education simply by your example The new change agents in this education revolution will not have a monopoly on anything but their own integrity

• Always keep your eye on finding the best possible solutions for education as a whole Once you take your eye off the ball, you can be distracted

• Push your thinking to be generative, sustainable and expandable Reforming our existing circumstances isn’t good enough…we need to revolutionize the ways we work and learn

• Be inclusive, bringing together everyone who needs to be at the table Do not allow yourself or anyone else to marginalize stakeholders

• Strive to build consensus among everyone involved in the process Honoring the diversity of stakeholder ideas is necessary for the best solutions to rise to the top

• Refuse to engage in hyperbole, pejoratives and polarizing dialog And when you encounter it, call it for what it is, respectfully explain it is not helpful, and redirect the conversation back to constructive exchanges

• Resist the lures of personal power and personal advancement They are counterintuitive to the way our emerging global society works collaboratively

• Reject the cults of personality and ideology They replace leadership with personal agendas and groupthink

• Never say never Persist in championing education transformation even when it seems the odds are against you

In short, stand up and proudly conduct politics the same way we conduct our classrooms…as incubators of human potential. If we are faithful to this ideal, we can revolutionize our profession and thereby transform the way society thinks about and supports public education.

Reader's note: Walter is taking a vacation for the next two weeks. He will resume his Looking Ahead Blog the week of August 28, 2011.