The Harvard EdCast

What it Takes to Change a School

Oct 11, 2023

Justin Cohen, writer and activist who authored, 'Change Agents: Transforming Schools from the Ground Up,' discusses the challenges of implementing change in schools. He emphasizes the importance of open conversations, empowering educators, and avoiding misconceptions. The disconnect between policymakers and educators is highlighted, along with the need for continuous improvement habits and administrative support. Forming a group or 'crew' for change is also discussed, as well as the timeline for educational change and the impact of instant success expectations.

27:08

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Episode guests

Justin Cohen

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Quick takeaways

Successful school transformation requires acknowledging the need for improvement and creating opportunities for educators to come together, identify solutions, and implement instructional shifts.

Transforming schools involves addressing cultural dynamics, engaging in intergenerational work, and having honest discussions about race and class, while reorienting accountability towards micro-improvements and educator practice.

Deep dives

Importance of Wanting Change in Schools

The first step in changing a school is to have the desire to change. Schools often remain stuck in the past due to nostalgia and a reluctance to acknowledge the need for improvement. High concentrations of poverty and under-resourcing, combined with social isolation, make schools the center of communities while struggling to provide effective instruction. It is essential to have honest conversations about the challenges and limitations of the institution without undermining its value. Change requires acknowledging the problem and creating opportunities for educators to come together, identify solutions, and implement instructional shifts.

Introduction

3min

Challenges and Empowerment in School Change

13min

The Relationship Between Data, Accountability, and Testing in Education

2min

Building a Crew for Change

6min

Understanding the Timeframe for Educational Change

3min

Changing a school can be challenging, but possible when you have a group of folks committed to making change, says Justin Cohen. He is a writer and activist who authored, "Change Agents: Transforming Schools from the Ground Up." As part of his research, he spent time speaking to educators in various schools that had successfully implemented change to better understand how they were able to do so. There's no real secret to making change, he notes, but rather there were key steps that these schools did including being open to change and giving the teachers the keys to drive and implement it.

"Teachers know more than anyone what needs to happen," he says. "It's when the outsiders and the people with clipboards and the policymakers who haven't set foot in a school, since they dropped their kids off at private school, have a take. That's what I think gets people's backs up. And so when educators come together and talk, they know the challenges. They are deeply aware of what needs to happen, in a lot of cases, and are pretty disempowered when it comes to enacting or adopting the changes."

Sometimes that even means going rogue from the district, he admits. In this episode of the EdCast, Cohen shares the habits of schools that have managed to implement change and how you can too in your school.

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The Harvard EdCast

What it Takes to Change a School

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Importance of Wanting Change in Schools

The Power of Peer Collaboration in Transforming Schools

Navigating Complex Dynamics and Adaptive Change

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts