(1) A
Response to POOGI Letter #12, Jorge
G. Arias
(2) A
Long Way from Red October!, Kathy Suerken
(3) G. K. Chesterton
(4) Kay
Buckner-Seal, Cheryl A. Edwards
(5) 5th Annual TOCFE International Conference/First Annual
TOCFE International Student’s Conference, Cheryl
A. Edwards
(1) A
Response to POOGI Letter #12
After reading the POOGI Letter, I just started to
think, "What would be the goal of the schools?" I am not an educator. I have a certain influence from the board of
directors of my son's school, and I am convinced that in order to sell the TOC
concepts, we must start defining the goal of the system. Could you share your points of view about
this matter? I will appreciate so
much because this concept could be the start of a revolution in the basis of
the educational concepts in my environment.
Thank you for your help.
(2) A Long Way
from Red October!
By Kathy Suerken
"It
isn't that we don't see a solution.
It's
that we don't see the problem."
–Author
unknown
Guess what? I've found Red October! Let me TELL you the coordinates so that you
can get on board, too. They read:
T-O-C!
That was I, upon my
return from a Jonah course in 1993, enthusiastically telling my teaching
colleagues (Y's) WHY they should be as excited as I was about a new solution to
create a win/win world, starting in our classrooms! After all, isn't that what teachers are supposed to do? Help others?
And with the best of all
possible intentions, I took the silver bullet and aimed it at my foot (which
was in my mouth!) What mistake did I
make?
I brought them another
new idea. I brought them an answer, not
a question. A solution, not the
problem. What do you think was their
response?
Licking my wounds, I
went underground and taught my middle school students, that year, instead of
them. But with those students, I
started with a story about them told through a simple tree, which generated an
idea from one of them in the form of a question! (which I asked for in
writing) "Mrs. Suerken, can we
keep on doing that graph thing?"
To me, this is the same
as teaching the cloud to kids through content (stories, especially) instead of
starting with the personal application.
I am reminded of Cheryl Edward's experience while still a reading
consultant in Detroit Public Schools.
She taught the cloud through a literature example in a middle school
classroom and, as she was about to leave the building, the teacher came running
after her and asked, "Could you please come back to the room? The students want to know if you would help
them use the cloud on a personal problem!"
The process made so much
sense to the students that they decided to put themselves into the frame of
reference. So how do we get all
caregivers of students to do the same– to personally ask for TOC?
I have given serious
thought to the first 3 times that I "accidentally" got adults to ask
for TOC. In each case, I was not
attempting to get them personally to decide on TOC, but rather to get them to
support TOC for someone else.
Therefore, I purposely didn't start with a "you need this"
approach. That is the answer that I
want them to come up with on their own initiative. So, I have learned NOT to start with the TOC solution.
But how do I start? Here's the beginning of a recent
presentation to some Y's. (And yes, it
would need to be adapted for a lunch room chat!)
Because people don't
like to have their time wasted or to be associated with something too “risky,”
I usually, first, show how successful TOCFE is around the world. I do this visually with a page of all our
flags and give the briefest of quantifiable details in so doing– 30,000
teachers trained in Malaysia within 3 months etc. Is this preempting the conformity obstacle? Maybe, not sufficiently. But it does helps to get some initial
interest, put them in a comfort zone, and evoke enough curiosity so that I can
continue.
Then, I go right to
layer one of resistance to change (we agree there is a problem). In order to get this agreement without
making them feel blamed for the problem, I ask a question that allows them to
“vent” their frustrations and, in so doing, to surface some underlying
assumptions. I ask, "What
prevents us from achieving our educational goals?"
If they answer this question, they have agreed that we do have a
problem (that what we have in education isn't working). But their answer will likely be a litany of
blame– the assumptions that the problem is caused by someone else. So for me, getting agreement on layer two
(what is the problem) must begin with redirecting the blame from people to the
situation. Sometimes it's as simple as
asking, do you think these people are intentionally trying to do a bad job
(teachers, bosses, parents, kids, …whomever)?
Usually the answer is,
"No, I guess not. Maybe they just
don't know how." (Remember my
solution that I want them to ask for is: TOC tools.)
So, I can bring them to
agree that we need tools, but not yet TOC tools. They may still think their tools (programs, etc.) work if they
could just get their stakeholders to use them.
AHA! Have we found a common
denominator? The frustration of not being
able to convince others to try OUR idea!
What a great Archimedes frustration point to leverage!
Therefore, my next
question is to call for the obstacles preventing others from trying new
ideas. Usually I use Efrat's Cloud* as
the vehicle because everyone has empathy for the need for security and asks for
assumptions on the security side:
"In order to feel secure, I resist change (trying new ideas, etc.)
because…?” And, I write down their
assumptions (ideas). Every last one of
them. Everyone is even more engaged in
the discussion by now.
*Efrat's Security/Satisfaction Cloud
A: Be happy
B: Feel satisfaction
C: Feel security
D': Don't Change
In order to “Be Happy” (A), I must “Feel Satisfaction” (B).
In order to “Feel Satisfaction” (B),”I must “Change” (D).
On the other hand:
In order to “Be Happy” (A), I must “Feel Security” (C).
In order to “Feel Security” (C), I must “Not Change” (D').
Their assumptions are
predictable and allow me to go back with a follow up question, "Are you
suggesting that if had a way (some tools) to make new ideas less risky, to make
people comfortable with change etc., it would fix the (your/my our)
problem?"
I have always gotten
agreement on that injection. And of
course they are justifiably thinking, “Yes, but how?"
And now, I have to
deliver the flying pig injection: tools that work (heh, heh!). The first one I usually present is cause and
effect methodology because it beautifully and visually demonstrates that we
have a generic process to challenge the above assumptions. I use a simple diagram of cause and effect
boxes (or circles) that are BLANK inside and connected with arrows and I
explain why this cause and effect methodology allows us to think through the
consequences of ideas and behaviors so that we can predict results and plan for
things that might go wrong.
Theoretically, it makes
sense to them (I have convinced them with logic) but I have to make it very
concretely practical (and relevant). So
then, I rhetorically ask, "Can children use this process?"
And now, I show them a
frame of reference. I use an example (a
case story) of a student's work with documented results. For me, it works best if the results are
quantified (happened more than once).
So, I share a beautifully worded testimonial from a teacher, who states
100% success with children who write their negative branches. I like those odds!"
Then, I show the use of
cause and effect in content (an old example from my Jonah kids). After that, I do the same for the cloud and
the PrT. I close with my PrT lesson
with juvenile offenders and one or two of their very compelling
testimonials. Because showing examples
takes time, I use only what is minimally sufficient to get the job done.
What's different about
this strategy from my days on Red October?
Now my first step (strategy) to convince Y's is ALWAYS to make sure that
we agree on the problem. That means I
had to stop doing what wasn't working!
For me, it's made a WORLD OF DIFFERENCE.
(3) " It isn't that they can't see the solution. It is that they can't see the problem."
—G. K. Chesterton
(4) Kay
Buckner-Seal, Cheryl A. Edwards
What’s on your
mind? Share them with the network! Send snail-mail to Cheryl
A. Edwards, 2253 S. Hill Island Rd., Cedarville, MI 49719, USA. Or, send hyperlink to
<redwards@sault.com> or <bucknek@earthlink.net>.
CONNECTIONS
(5) 5th Annual TOCFE
International Conference/First Annual TOCFE International Student’s Conference
From Cheryl A. Edwards
“The best way to predict the future is to create it through
TOC."
TOC
for Education, Inc. presents the 5th Annual TOCFE International Conference and
the First Annual TOCFE International Student’s Conference!
Date: June 25-28, 2001
Location: Detroit, Michigan USA
Hotel: Northfield Hilton
5500 Crooks Road
Troy, Michigan 48098
248. 879. 2100
The
Northfield Hilton is adjacent to Interstate 75 at Crooks Road, Exit 72
Reservations: 1. 800. HILTONS
Ask for TOC for
Education’s special room rates.
Single
or Double Occupancy
Per night $139.00 U.S. + Tax (6% Michigan Sales Tax and 7%
Occupancy Tax). This rate includes
breakfast for two.
Transportation: Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW)