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The primary role of the consultant is to help the school find
balance through integrating existing strengths with desired
outcomes. The Gestalt Institute of Cleveland states: “The
true worth of the intervener is not measured by the set of skills
or tools they possess, but by their ability to see themselves
clearly in relation to others. Such clarity drives the individual
to integrate organizational change, knowledge, and the synergy
of working with others to produce powerful interventions for
superior results.”
The most important part of any intervention is to help the school
system learn who and what they already are. Change can only
occur after understanding the state of the current circumstances.
During this process, our staff helps to build support for what
is working well while helping stimulate curiosity towards areas
that are less effective. By supporting school leadership in
an effort to grow, we help the school build energy for change.
Higher energy and lower resistance helps create a more fluid
daily operations and ultimately a more productive learning environment.
Our approach to managing whole school improvement involves the
application of the Paradoxical Theory of Change. The theory
contends that organizations “must fully become what is,
before becoming something else”. In other words, before
an organization is able to “truly” evolve and move
towards positive change, the organization needs to accept responsibility
and “own” its current circumstances. Awareness of
how the various subsystems within a school interrelate is crucial
to reaching this stage. Without this step, many organizations
fail to reach their goals.
As organizational consultants, our role in this critical step
is to join with the system to facilitate strategies that build
awareness around existing strengths and areas of resistance.
By supporting existing structures, we help the leadership build
energy and excitement for change. Higher energy and lower resistance
creates fluid operating systems and a more productive learning
environment.
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To heighten awareness of the
school system regarding its process in dealing with conflict,
decision-making, and change. |
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To support the generation of
data, valid information concerning problems and ways of
functioning within the organization. |
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To establish a presence that
aids awareness, data generation and the contact process.
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To build on the energy of the
school system in relation to a current “figure”,
theme, or issue. |
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To enhance contact between
parts of the system and to provide learning about subsystem
boundaries and joint efforts for organizational effectiveness.
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To further the development
of the client’s skills in seeing new ways to address
system problems, especially about that is possible in
the now. That is, the value of what is as well as what
could be. |
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Help create a mechanism by
which the organization learns how to monitor, assess,
and adapt to its environmental influences. |
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Teach skills and
techniques for accomplishing desired objectives. |
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The implementation of effective
processes that support faculty unity, increase commitment,
and raise the level of effectiveness within the school.
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The establishment of a school
system that knows and uses a method for self-improvement
called the cycle of work. |
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A heightened awareness of what
causes student violence, what underlying issues support
or detract from the potential for violence, and how to
build a school system in which violence is unlikely to
manifest itself. |
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Help develop a shared picture
that reflects the needs of the organization and the collective
wants of the individual. |
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