Considering Mental Models is a research proven strategy for learning. They can be used with great effect to study schools. The Images of School chart shows five different guiding metaphors that can describe America's schools.
The tool can be used to reflect, have conversation, and assess which model best reflects the current status of a given school and/or district and which model a school or district aspires to be.
The Images of School chart can be used to illustrate the need for transformation.
The Schlechty Center believes that transformation to a Learning Organization where engagement is the core business is the only way schools can provide the experiences for kids that result in a quality education for all kids where high levels of profound learning are a result.
Considering Mental Models is a research proven strategy for learning. They can be used with great effect to study schools. The Images of School chart shows five different guiding metaphors that can describe America's schools.
The tool can be used to reflect, have conversation, and assess which model best reflects the current status of a given school and/or district and which model a school or district aspires to be.
The Images of School chart can be used to illustrate the need for transformation.
The Schlechty Center believes that transformation to a Learning Organization where engagement is the core business is the only way schools can provide the experiences for kids that result in a quality education for all kids where high levels of profound learning are a result.
Six Critical Systems
Tip: The Decagon tells what capacity is needed. The Six Critical Systems tell which system needs work to build the capacity.
The purpose of assessing capacity, (see system capacity standards), is to inform school leaders which systems need to be worked on (redesigned) in order to build capacity, especially capacity to support transformation. There are at least six critical systems at work in schools and they are social systems.
Social systems define the cultural and structural context within which operating systems must carry out their tasks. Operating systems define how work is done; social systems define the meaning of the work, the values that are attached to the work and its outcomes, the ends toward which the work is aimed, the manner in which authority is assigned, the knowledge that is honored, and so on.
-Phil Schlechty, Leading for Learning: How to transform Schools into Learning Organizations p. 26
Does the idea of building capacity and redesigning social systems seem daunting? This work might be guided in more detail with information provided in the Schlechty Center document, Phases of Transformation. The identification of Phase One, Phase Two, and Phase Three is intended not to dictate a prescriptive sequence but to provide guidance and suggest a starting point, a middle point, and more advanced work. Using the descriptions of System Capacity Standards and Six Critical Systems in each phase, a district should selectively determine where to put its energy, resources, and focus in any given period of time, how evidence of progress will be gathered and communicated, and when the district is ready to take on further capacity building and system redesign.
Activity: Role Play
Imagine you are a leadership team for a brand new school. You are meeting over the summer. Your team is working on Capacity Standard 2: Developing Shared Beliefs and Vision.
Which critical system would you choose to work on? Which Transformation Results might address the critical system you choose? Explain your reasoning in a short consensus paragraph. Post your work to your project slide deck.