Facilitating a Common Vision for School Leaders and Teachers

As a leadership coach who formerly worked as a teacher and a principal, I’ve been involved in all aspects of executing school- and districtwide action plans. I’ve seen how a muddied vision and lack of communication can cause false starts, wrong turns, and frustration, which in turn lead to wasted time and resources, and an increased resistance to change. In my current role, I facilitate discussions and strategies among stakeholders so they can co-design, then achieve, a clear, detailed, intended outcome. During professional learning, I seek to increase a sense of ownership among school leaders and educators alike.

To pull off that task, I first try to meet a school, department, and/or district where they already are: Who’s involved in creating the overall vision, goals, and/or processes? What inherent challenges do stakeholders face? What challenges might come up as they strive to collectively achieve a goal?

I recently assisted a middle school as they attempted to enact a plan that would, if successful, increase students’ engagement and ownership of their academic path. The middle school wanted students to analyze their own educational data, then set personal goals and take new actions based on that data. Below is a breakdown of the collaborative steps we took—emphasizing the “why, what, and how” of getting to the intended outcome—as well as other tips for facilitative leaders in similar situations.

The why: connecting with a purpose

I first set aside time for the middle school’s administrators, teachers, and instructional coach to mull over why their data-driven goal for students was important and necessary. I guided individuals, small groups, and then the whole group of collaborators via discussion-based protocols and visual thinking tools. 

When we all met up, I supplied a handful of resources: chart papers, markers, and sticky notes. I asked participants to reflect on the following question: “Why do you think it could be important to use data with students?” Responses to this question were captured on individual sticky notes and gave insight into each participant’s background knowledge and beliefs about using data with students.

Then, I divided the group into duos, where they looked over a variety of resources and responded to three prompts, in one sticky note each:

• In your own words, what is the “why” of using data with students?
• How might using data with students help them learn?
• What types of data might be useful for students?

By working with a partner, rather than individually, participants were able to socially construct their learnings and help one another make meaning of the multimedia resources I provided.

Next, I had participants post their sticky notes on the chart paper. To streamline the process of organizing sticky note responses, I used an affinity mapping protocol, drawing from the National School Reform Faculty (NSRF) and Center for Leadership and Educational Equity (CLEE), which made it easy for participants to see the similarities and differences in their responses. I finished this portion by asking them what they noticed, and wondered, about the variety of sentiments.

As we wrapped up the “why” portion of this exercise, I noticed that there were many positive reactions to the concept of more data-driven efforts for students. Administrators and teachers cited potential increases in student motivation, goal-setting, and ownership, plus better peer support and more personalized instruction in the classroom.

By giving each individual a voice in creating a collective “why,” the administrators, teachers, and instructional coach ultimately acted as a team in co-constructing the purpose behind their plan.

The what: a shared vision to achieve intended outcomes

In order for stakeholders to understand the “what” of their plan, I recommend employing a vision-casting activity. In this case, I led stakeholders in a forward-facing exercise illustrating the environment for students, teachers, and parents after data is used by students as a learning assessment tool.

I presented stakeholders with a remixed version of the future protocol (I like the NSRF version and the CLEE version). I asked everyone to picture us coming together in three years to celebrate how we got students to use data in order to achieve greater academic success. The more you can get stakeholders to really picture that moment, the better. I broke participants into small groups, so they could discuss and then write down on sticky notes what that moment looked like, sounded like, and felt like.

To nurture a common vision, I facilitated a discussion afterward with the whole group, where they compared sticky notes. When multiple groups had a similar sticky note, we clustered them together on the chart paper. Through these intentional conversations, we fostered ownership and excitement.

The how: applying a personalized, inquiry-based approach

After stakeholders identified the purpose of their data-driven goal (the “why”) and what they hoped would come from it (the “what”), we moved onto how they should pull off their plan. I created a choice sheet using a Google Form, which allowed teachers to pick between two distinct pathways. This way, they could learn from each other about how to administer data-driven measures for students. From the two pathways, I further divided the educators into Zoom teams across the middle school’s three grade levels. I supported these teams via virtual, small group learning sessions, as well as a comprehensive resource document that captured the strategies that were developed and attempted by all of the teachers. The virtual, small group learning sessions took place over a number of months.

As an example, some of the teachers in pathway two focused on setting up small group time to help students analyze their data and reflect on progress toward their established goals. In the Zoom breakout room, teachers took turns sharing the resources and routines they had implemented with students.

During all these sessions, I opted for a backseat facilitation role. I started and ended each learning session by reiterating objectives and identifying key takeaways. The rest of the sessions consisted of each teacher sharing their latest practices and the results of those practices. As a way of supporting the teachers, the instructional coach attended every virtual session, and administrators also attended many of the sessions. This helped keep all parties in the loop and showed a serious investment from leadership.