May 1998
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Date: Mon, 4 May 1998
To: k-12sd-@sysdyn.mit.edu
From: mbbjr@VNET.IBM.COM (by way of k-12sd)
Subject: Re: Target Setting in Schools
On 28 April 1998, Don Ledingham wrote:
>My question is, "How do I introduce the concept of targets (which are
>completely alien to Scottish education) in a way in which teachers can
>feel in control and not react to them in a negative manner which might
>then necessitate an imposition from us, as managers?"
If you mean, "How can we manipulate the teachers into thinking of the
targets as a good idea?" -- you can't. If you mean, "How can we not
alienate the teachers completely and still get along with these imposed
targets?" then I suspect you can.
You say that the government imposed these targets, so I assume you can't
refuse them or even push back. If true, then you must answer what I
call the Deming question: "By what method?" You, as a manager, have the
job of not only explaining the targets and the consequences of not meeting
them, but also proposing a plan to accomplish the targets. You don't need
to create a perfect plan, just a starting point. Then ask the teachers
for help. Or, start with the teachers and a blank sheet of paper.
In any case, since you and the teachers have crafted an improvement plan
together already, you have a base of goodwill and cooperation to start
from. Allow them (and, perhaps, yourself) to gripe a bit, then get down
to work. Good luck!
Matt Barkley, IBM Network Computing Software Division
Research Triangle Park, NC USA
Usual disclaimer: I speak only for myself.
Date: Thu, 7 May 1998
To: k-12sd-@sysdyn.mit.edu
From: Fabian Szulanski <msfep@onr.com> (by way of k-12sd)
Subject: Target setting in schools
Don,
I recall having played with a predator-prey SD model in one of the courses
of the Masters program in SD in the Univ. of Bergen, Norway, , where one of
the (unsuccessful) policies was to impose an external (prey population
level) goal to the system. The system had always
its internal goal present.
What do I mean with this 'metaphor' ?
It'll be always better to make school staff gain ownership on the project
they belong to, and that in turn will generate a culture change that will
be much more sustainable, being highly probable that the external goals
will be met due to the much productive and collaborative work atmosphere.
It is good to be aware of the external goals, therefore you should inform
the school staff about them, but you should also nurture their sense of
ownership and a shared vision in the organization. That is, work to extend
the internal boundaries of the organization's performance.
Be well...
Fabian Szulanski
Date: Wed, 13 May 1998
To: k-12sd-@sysdyn.mit.edu
From: Ed Gallaher <gallaher@teleport.com> (by way of k-12sd)
Subject: Re: Target setting in schools
>Don,
>I recall having played with a predator-prey SD model in one of the courses
>of the Masters program in SD in the Univ. of Bergen, Norway, , where one of
>the (unsuccessful) policies was to impose an external (prey population
>level) goal to the system. The system had always
> its internal goal present.
>
>What do I mean with this 'metaphor' ?
>
>It'll be always better to make school staff gain ownership on the project
>they belong to, and that in turn will generate a culture change that will
>be much more sustainable, being highly probable that the external goals
>will be met due to the much productive and collaborative work atmosphere.
>It is good to be aware of the external goals, therefore you should inform
>the school staff about them, but you should also nurture their sense of
>ownership and a shared vision in the organization. That is, work to extend
>the internal boundaries of the organization's performance.
>
>Be well...
>
>Fabian Szulanski
>------------------------------------------------------------
At the K12 Conference in Concord MA several years ago Peter Senge was one
of the keynote speakers. He asked a rhetorical question to the group of
about 150 k12 educators. I hope I can paraphrase this correctly. ( Keep
in mind that he would normally be asking these questions in a
business/marketing/economic setting. )
PS "In the absence of a major crisis, how many of you would expect to see a
major change in the structure of the system?"
A few people (5-10) raised their hands, in the belief that major change
could possible be accomplished because of its beneficial expectations, even
in the absence of a crisis. Most people disagreed, and PS pointed out that
as long as things are cruising along, it is unlikely that anyone is going
to radically rock the boat. And even if someone tried there would be a lot
of apathy, passive (or active) resistance, etc.
Then he asked the next question: Given a real crisis in the operation of
the system, how many people think major changes would be implemented?
This time a few more people raised their hands, perhaps 15-20. PS looked
puzzled. When he asks this in a business setting everyone raises their
hands. They imagine new techical breakthroughs by a competitor, or a
disastrous advertisinig campaign, or major quality problems, leading to
large losses of market share, income, and profits. Obviously in the face
of this crisis we better do something, or the company will not survive.
He seemed to be a little taken aback, because he was not getting the
expected answer, until someone in the audience piped up, "The educational
system won't change, EVEN in the face of a major crisis!"
Everyone laughed, and now Peter understood what everyone else was feeling.
The educational "system" is SO conservative, and has SO much inertia, and
has been exposed to SO many "new", "revolutionary" ideas, and mandates,
that the typical classroom teacher pretty much turned a deaf ear to these
new programs. The bottom line is they can go to all the meetings in the
world, but then they go inside the classroom, close the door, and teach the
way they want to teach, right or wrong.
I offer this as a perspective on the current discussion about attempting to
get teachers to buy into the process, vs. mandates from above.
The next obvious ("enlightened") step would be to recruit teachers to serve
on the advisory/organizational panels in the first place. However, we now
observe another result of intertia.
Dedicated, hard-working teachers agree to serve on such a task force. They
take valuable time away from their teaching, their families, and their
sleep. They work with administrators and school board officials for 6-9
months to come up with a new plan. The plan gets put into a file cabinet
at the school board, new elections are held, the school board changes
direction, a new administrator is hired, and the report is never used.
Indeed, it is probably never even read by more than 20 people, and 10 of
them were on the task force.
I am able to look at this process from the outside because I am a med
school professor; I'm not in the K12 trenches. I sympathize with the
problems, but as a system dynamicist I would have to take the pessimistic
view that inertia is going to win.
(Please don't say, wow, is Ed lucky, he can observe from the outside but he
doesn't have to put up with all these issues. I have my own set of inertia
problems within the med school/research environment, they are just
different issues.)
We would like to think that a slow, infection model is more likely to work
in the long run. Teachers learn how to develop models and curriculum
materials, they begin using them, infecting other teachers and students,
and after some incubation period the exponential growth begins to turn the
corner and head upwards. Then no one can stop the process; it makes too
much sense to too many people.
Good luck to those dealing with "mandates" . . .
Ed Gallaher
Assoc. Prof.
Oregon Health Sciences Univ.
Date: Wed, 13 May 1998
To: k-12sd-@sysdyn.mit.edu
From: Adrian Wynne <WynneA@agric.unp.ac.za> (by way of k-12sd)
Subject: Agland - The Game
I am currently doing research on the economic constraints faced by small
scale poultry producers in South Africa with the intention of improving
sustainable rural development in the future. Will the Agland Game be
beneficial to me? Can anyone tell me more about it?
Regards
Adrian Wynne
Date: Wed, 13 May 1998
To: k-12sd-@sysdyn.mit.edu
From: "Jean-Louis CORDONNIER" <jlcord@classic.msn.com> (by way of k-12sd)
Subject: Introduction
Hello,
I am a french biology teacher, in a college (student between 15 & 20 years
old). I want to teach them complexity through biology (for instance
populations regulations, glycemy regulation...)
Jean-Louis CORDONNIER
36, rue Lavisse
66000 PERPIGNAN
jlcord@wanadoo.fr
Jean-Louis Cordonnier
36, rue Lavisse
66000 PERPIGNAN
(33) 4 68 63 87 04
jlcord@wanadoo.com
Date: Wed, 13 May 1998
To: k-12sd-@sysdyn.mit.edu
From: "Waters' Center" <wat-cent@Charity.trinityvt.edu> (by way of k-12sd)
Subject: Introduction
The Waters Center for System Dynamics, is located at Trinity College
of Vermont in Burlington. We serve as a demonstration and
training site for educational applications of system dynamics. The
Center was established to improve and expand the use of system
dynamics in educational settings from kindergarten through
post-graduate higher education. A place for teachers and students to
explore the world's complexities and connections.
Waters Center for System Dynamics
Trinity College of VT
208 Colchester Ave.
Burlington, VT 05401
(802) 658-0337 x-353
(802) 658-5446 (Fax)
wat-cent@charity.trinityvt.edu
Date: Tue, 19 May 1998
To: k-12sd-@sysdyn.mit.edu
From: Niall Palfreyman <Niall.Palfreyman@assyst-intl.com> (by way of
k-12sd)
Subject: Re: Target setting in schools
Ed Gallaher wrote:
>
> The bottom line is they can go to all the meetings in the
> world, but then they go inside the classroom, close the door, and
> teach the way they want to teach, right or wrong.
> ...
> We would like to think that a slow, infection model is more likely to
> work in the long run.
Hi Everyone,
I both agree and disagree with Ed here. I used to teach and I'm very
much aware that I was always glad that nobody apart from the students
could observe the terrible trip-ups I made. It was a valuable coccoon
for my self-esteem and probably also inhibited changes to my ways of
teaching.
However, occasionally (!) I would emerge from that classroom and
interact with the 'normal' world outside. And that world, like it or
not, had the same effect on me that it has on everyone - it changed me.
Now I believe passionately in change - I can think of no better reason
for being here than to change things for the better. However I believe
neither in 'slow infection' nor in revolution; rather I believe in
dominoes, ie: punctuated (co)evolution. Neither teachers nor anyone else
are likely to show revolutionary change from one day to the next, but
neither are they likely to stay stable for the rest of their lives.
EVERYONE changes as they coevolve with their environment, and the job of
those of us who want to promote change is to simply take every
day-to-day opportunity we find to place individual dominoes into the
environment of the people around us. One day those people will find
their own way of toppling the dominoes into their own personal epiphany
and a minor revolution will have occurred. This process can of course be
speeded up by choosing the 'right' dominoes for the individuals
involved. However we should beware of imagining the change was OUR
doing. Rather, the toppling process is the personal achievement of the
changing individual. And THAT to my mind is the real miracle of change.
Niall.
--
Have fun!
Niall Palfreyman email: Niall.Palfreyman@assyst-intl.com
assyst GmbH, Henschelring 15a
85551 Kirchheim bei Muenchen Tel: ++49-89-90505-230
Germany. Fax: ++49-89-90505-102/3
Date: Thu, 21 May 1998 14:45:55 -0400
To: k-12sd-@sysdyn.mit.edu
From: Ed Gallaher <gallaher@teleport.com> (by way of k-12sd)
Subject: Re: Target setting in schools
>Date: Tue, 19 May 1998 12:07:44 -0400
>From: Niall Palfreyman <Niall.Palfreyman@assyst-intl.com> (by way of
> k-12sd)
>Subject: Re: Target setting in schools
>
>Ed Gallaher wrote:
>> The bottom line is they can go to all the meetings in the
>> world, but then they go inside the classroom, close the door, and
>> teach the way they want to teach, right or wrong.
>> ...
>> We would like to think that a slow, infection model is more likely to
>>work in the long run.
>
>Hi Everyone,
>
>I both agree and disagree with Ed here. I used to teach and I'm very
>much aware that I was always glad that nobody apart from the students
>could observe the terrible trip-ups I made. It was a valuable coccoon
>for my self-esteem and probably also inhibited changes to my ways of
>teaching.
snip
However I believe
>neither in 'slow infection' nor in revolution; rather I believe in
>dominoes, ie: punctuated (co)evolution. Neither teachers nor anyone else
>are likely to show revolutionary change from one day to the next, but
>neither are they likely to stay stable for the rest of their lives.
>
>EVERYONE changes as they coevolve with their environment, and the job of
>those of us who want to promote change is to simply take every
>day-to-day opportunity we find to place individual dominoes into the
>environment of the people around us.
I like this description by Niall. If one accepts the idea that everyone is
changing, then the goal is to be in a position to influence the direction
rather than initiate the change process. The fact still remains, however,
that this cannot be dictated to the teacher.
In the paper this AM was an article about dog training. One comment was
that you cannot -make- a guide dog lead you through a crowded room, it must
-want- to lead you through.
Niall's suggestions appear to foster this approach. The teacher must
-want- to change, and our preference would be that one of the ways they
change is to begin using systems thinking and system dynamics. But a
mandate from above will not accomplish this.
Ed
Date: Fri, 22 May 1998
To: k-12sd-@sysdyn.mit.edu
From: "Norman Marshall" <Norman_Marshall@MCKINSEY.COM> (by way of Nan Lux)
(by way of k-12sd)
Subject: ANNOUNCE McKinsey & Company seeks SD specialists (SD1482)
(Dear Educators, Assure your students that there is a demand for their
system dynamics skills! Nan Lux, k-12sd Monitor)
---------------------------------
Business Dynamics Specialists
McKinsey and Company is one of the leading international management
consultancies, with 70 offices in 38 countries.
Over the last seven years we have been developing a practice area in
business dynamics (our term for system dynamics). The core of this is a
team of business dynamics specialists, currently based around hubs in
London and Cleveland. The team has grown very rapidly in the last two
years, and we are looking for further people to join them.
Specialists work in close integration with teams of generalist consultants
to bring business dynamics problem solving approaches to bear on clients'
issues. This can range from running client workshops to developing highly
sophisticated dynamic models and microworlds. In addition to client work,
specialists have a particular responsibility for developing our knowledge
base by distilling the learnings from client engagements and research
projects into compelling and broadly applicable frameworks. They are
evaluated, compensated and promoted in close parallel with generalists, and
sometimes transfer from one role to the other.
We are therefore looking for people who combine the problem-solving,
interpersonal and leadership qualities to thrive as generalist consultants
with distinctive skills in conceptualising, modeling and communicating
dynamic issues and solutions.
We recruit from a broad range of backgrounds. In all cases however we are
looking for: an outstanding academic record; significant achievements in
your career to date; technical excellence in the disciplines of system
dynamics and systems thinking; and leadership potential, drive and
determination. Most recruits join at associate level, but we are also
interested in people with exceptional qualifications and leadership
experience who could join at a more senior level.
The pace of work is intense, and often requires extensive travel. However,
you will serve some of the world's largest companies, from a wide range of
industries, in addressing their highest priority problems. You will work
within a meritocratic, supportive, team-based and entrepreneurial culture.
You will have enormous opportunities to learn and develop.
Please email your cv and covering letter to Norman Marshall at
norman_marshall@mckinsey.com. No closing date for applications.
Norman Marshall
Practice Manager, Business Dynamics
McKinsey & Company
1 Jermyn Street
London SW1Y 4UH
tel: +44 171 873 5487
fax: +44 171 873 9777
Date: Fri, 22 May 1998
To: k-12sd-@sysdyn.mit.edu
From: Jane Soderquist <jsoderquist@hps-inc.com> (by way of k-12sd)
Subject: Summer STELLA Workshop
High Performance Systems, Inc. is pleased to invite you to our annual
workshop on Systems Thinking with the STELLA software, to be held in
Woodstock, Vermont from July 7-10, 1998.
Through lecture, exercises, discussion, and small-group projects, the
four-day workshop will build your capacity for:
* Evaluating your mental models' congruence with reality.
* Seeing interdependent relationships.
* Modeling those relationships to promote shared understanding.
* Facilitating students toward constructivist, learner-directed learning.
The first two days of the workshop will introduce the language, paradigm,
and method of systems thinking, while also introducing the mechanics of the
STELLA software. During the second two days, participants will have the
opportunity to work on small group projects, coached by HPS facilitators.
The intent is for every participant to return to the classroom with
curriculum materials that can immediately enrich their classroom
experiences.
For additional information or to register for the workshop, please contact
Lisa Killmer at (800) 332-1202 or (603) 643-9636, x104 or
lkillmer@hps-inc.com, or visit our website at http://www.hps-inc.com
Best regards,
Jane Soderquist
----------------Jane Soderquist-----------------
High Performance Systems, Inc.
45 Lyme Road, Suite, 200
Hanover, NH 03755-1221
http://www.hps-inc.com * support@hps-inc.com
-----------jsoderquist@hps-inc.com--------------
End of May