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By Dr. Harry Tennant
Thursday, September 6, 2012 Education Ride 365: Do You Rock The Boat...Or Are You A Rock In The Boat? Most all of us are familiar with the saying "don't rock the boat." In education, it is the surest path one can take towards an uninterrupted career of employment culminating in a respectful retirement. Some who choose this path find it comfortable, even natural. Others swallow it as a bitter pill of regrettable reality and personal necessity. These two groups are steady, familiar, and relatively predictable. Colleagues and subordinates know what to expect from them day in and day out, year in and year out. There is a reassuring aspect to their approach. They steady (sometimes anchor) the boat against those who would rock it, even when the rocking is an effort to dislodge the boat---their school(s)---from a sand bar of mediocrity and outmoded practices. They want to progress, but on their own terms and pace...as glacial as that often is. Subconsciously, if not consciously, their guiding principle is often sheltering themselves as much as possible from water spray, let alone more potentially serious outcomes of boat rocking.  Those who rock the boat do so at their own peril. They see areas in need of improvement and dare to influence or effect fundamental change, thereby creating discomfort in the 'steady as you go' crowd. Sometimes they are referred to as progressives...or change-agents. Other labels affixed to them are often less kind! They see inefficiencies and anachronisms; they act to change them. They see a dearth of processes and an insufficient pace of progress; they act to establish or at least promote more aggressive interventions. They personally risk taking on the rapids to build a more sea-worthy boat for the long haul.  Most of us know, and even acknowledge, that we need more of the latter in our schools than the former. We celebrate these boat rockers, these progressives....the ones who build a bigger, better, more modern boat we all feel will better land us at our destination. We are tired of what we judge to be good ole' boy networks, do-nothing colleagues, ineffective leadership, unprofessional behaviors, and self-obsessed intransigence. We want better. We want better, that is, until we feel the steady (if practically anchored) boat we've become accustomed to rocking from side to side, making waves. Water spraying over the edge, possibly into the faces of those most aware and afraid of it. It is then when the instincts of many for self-preservation trump the necessity of moving forward at a sufficient pace. Their backlash can be severe and debilitating to efforts towards fundamental progress.  This is one branch of the root of mediocrity many Americans perceive in our schools today. Everyone seems to have the answers. Who is willing to get wet building the better boat for all? Posted at 8:06 AM Keywords: Education Ride 365 , EdClick , Cycle Of Education , Change , Continuous Improvement 0 Comments |