Harvard researchers Kegan and Lahey assert that people “wouldn’t complain about anything unless they cared about something.” They believe that underneath the complaint there is a “hidden river of passion and commitment.”
The trick is to listen deeply to figure out what that real concern is!
Teachers say: “There’s WAY too much testing of kids these days!” But what I know is that teachers (including myself) have been testing kids regularly forever. Remember the Friday spelling and math tests? And the weekly reading and writing assignments?
Testing is how we teachers know what students have learned and what we should be including in our lesson plans the next week.
Maybe the deeper concern is not having control over WHAT is tested. Maybe it is the disconnect between what teachers think kids should know and what some “outsider” (district, state, international organization) thinks kids should know.
So a savvy leader reframes the conversation from convincing teachers to accept the district testing program to talking about what teachers think is important for students to learn. Then the conversation becomes about exploring where and how those things are tested in the each system—the imposed one and the one teachers create themselves.
That helps teachers be smart about how to use the testing they do—to understand the purpose and limits of the imposed testing and have it become just one piece of their own robust system of formal and informal testing.
This helps teachers feel empowered because they have figured out how to use testing wisely.
What complaint could you reframe to empower teachers?
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