Changing Adult Behavior: What Matters Most
The purpose of this section of the O-DWW Superintendent Pathfinder is to support superintendents in leading and managing change. The underpinnings of Ohio’s commitment to continuous improvement in professional practice and student learning can be found in the core messages/non-negotiables espoused by the Ohio Leadership Advisory Council (see The OLAC-OIP Connection under THE SUPERINTENDENT’S ROLE).
Listen to an Ohio Superintendent share his/her district’s experience in leading and managing change using the OIP as a foundation and framework for improvement.
What does it mean to function as a learning organization? More than 20 years ago, Peter Senge (1990) described learning organizations as groups of people working together to collectively enhance their capacities to create results that matter to them. McNulty and Besser (2011) note, “…the reality is that most classrooms, schools, and districts don’t learn well collectively. By and large, teaching is still an isolated profession.” (p. 58) Putting structures in place to replace isolated learning with collective continuous learning is a prerequisite for making and sustaining meaningful improvements across the district (Elmore, 2004; Supovitz, 2006; Fullan, 2008a).
A challenge common to many superintendents involves managing multiple expectations, particularly as demands to participate in federal or state initiatives increase. For many districts, these external initiatives contribute to fragmentation and make it more difficult to stay focused on a limited number of goals and strategies identified by the district as critical in meeting its needs.
