If Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast, what’s for Lunch?
All organizations have cultures. Some develop by accident over years. Others are carefully crafted by people willing to put in the work and really understand what makes the organization tick. Since the beginning of the school year, we have been doing the latter.
We arrived at this moment, ready to do the work through a detailed consultative and collaborative process of developing our new strategic plan. As we know from Peter Drucker, a shiny new strategic plan may stand little chance of success if the necessary cultural elements are not in place.
So how might we ensure we have the optimal culture in order to see our strategy flourish? At Montcrest, we have chosen to explore this question in partnership with The Common Ground Collaborative. Through our initial series of workshops, faculty, staff and leaders have explored such meaty questions as,
- What is learning?
- What’s worth learning and why?
- What would you fight to teach?
- Why lead?
In taking the time to explore each of these questions in a variety of formations of faculty, staff and leadership groups, we are building capacity within our team to redefine our learning culture.
What makes a culture?
Cultures share such things as languages, beliefs, norms, stories and behaviours. As a learning culture, a school’s shared vision for learners and learning is also critical. Based on Margaret Wheatley’s thinking, rather than feeling constraining, structure within a culture helps us seek shared truths that bring freedom and order to a system.
What is learning?
As educators, we may make the assumption that we have a common understanding of learning. Taking the time to level set and agree to a shared definition was a valuable first step.
All CGC schools share the belief that learning has the three components of Conceptual, Competency and Character. These 3Cs are woven implicitly and explicitly into all learning experiences so learners, Understand that… are Able to… and are Becoming more…
Starting with the lived experiences of learning, our faculty and staff shared stories of their own learning. We then distilled our stories into messages. A few of these messages are included below.
FROM MY STORY, MONTCREST EDUCATORS SHOULD REMEMBER THAT…
- All students have the potential to learn and to shine.
- Empathy, connection, and a sense of humour is what learners need to survive and thrive.
- Students should understand the relevance of what they are exploring/learning to their lives.
- Small things that you do and say to students can have a lasting impact.
- Learning can be hard AND good, authenticity is essential.
- Active listening and inquiring lead to understanding other perspectives.
- There is joy in change.
In a final reflective comment, one teacher shared a quote that very much resonates with who we are as a school and our approach to learning,
“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou
Where to next?
From stories, a small group of willing Pattern Finders met over the course of multiple sessions to synthesize the messages into themes, to craft the first draft of our Learning Principles. Through the uniqueness of Montcrest, what emerged is a set of six distinct yet interwoven Learning Principles,
- The PEOPLE Principle
- The PURPOSE Principle
- The DIVERSITY Principle
- The OWNERSHIP Principle
- The WONDER Principle
- The CONTEXT Principle
It is important to note the order of our Principles. While we deeply respect the work of Simon Sinek and the necessity to start with WHY, as a relationship-based school that walks the Third Path, it was essential for our team to start with our connection to one another. This sentiment is what sets Montcrest apart as a school.
In the spirit of co-creation, it has taken much feedback, word-smithing and many iterations for us to arrive at the point of consensus. Our process to build consensus towards our Temporary Fixed Position (TFP) Learning Principles, ensured the voices of all faculty, staff and leadership were heard. We are now able to move forward to our next phase knowing that we all:
- Understand the Principles
- Can live with the Principles
- Would defend the Principles in public
What’s for lunch?
Having eaten strategy for breakfast, what does culture eat for lunch?
“A set of Learning Principles has no value on its own. Just another wall adornment to nail up by the Mission Statement.” Kevin Bartlett, 2020
It was never our intention to craft pretty words that only exist in theory. We know that it is where the rubber hits the road, the actual learning and teaching in classrooms, that actually matters.
“The real learning impact comes when Learning Principles are translated into Learning Practices, then into the necessary Teaching Practices to support the learning, then Leading Practices to support the teaching. It’s basic logic, a simple if-then syllogism: If we are living this principle, then here’s what we’ll see our learners doing, here’s what our teachers will be doing in support and here’s what our leaders will be doing to sustain this culture of ‘learning, teaching and leading on principle’.” (Kevin Bartlett, 2020)
What might this look like in practice?
Well, that is for us to determine together! What we know for certain is that we will continue to co-create practices and build consensus in this important work. It will begin internally but will swiftly move to involve very important workshops with students, parents and our Board of Governors. We hope as members of the Montcrest Learning Community, you will be willing to take a seat at the table and help us reimagine the learning game!
Up and coming Montcrest community engagement:
- Board Retreat (for all Governors of the Board)
- MPA/Parent Ambassador co-facilitated Parent Event: Launching Strategy (please see the Montcrest Mirror for dates and registration details)
- Faculty and Staff, From Principles to Practice workshop
- Student, From Principles to Practice workshop
*Thanks to Kevin Bartlett and the CGC team for permission to use images and ideas.
The Common Ground Collaborative (CGC) is a non-profit, global community of sense-makers, innovators, educators and partners who share a common goal. We’ve had it with decades of disconnected curriculum, disconnected schools and disconnected conversations, so we are co-creating smart, systemic, sustainable solutions.
