Professional Learning One School’s Transformational Journey:
Viewing Students as Customers Changes Everything By Angela Garrett, PAGE Leadership Initiatives
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hen schools begin to understand their community and the community begins to understand the school, everything will change. When teachers begin to view children as customers and as volunteers as opposed to workers who are made to complete work, everything will change. When we start to let go of the traditional school ways that we were taught and instead focus on what it takes to engage today’s students, everything will change. As a former elementary principal, that is exactly what happened at our school. I became an elementary school principal in 2001, following two years as the assistant and some 21 years as a speech pathologist. My school was one of six elementary schools in Dalton. The schools were divided into grades kindergarten through second, third through fourth or fifth through sixth. We served kindergarten through second graders. I was ecstatic about taking over the responsibility of principal. I knew our staff well, knew expectations of our district and superintendent, and I felt ready to take on whatever was needed. There was some discontentment within the community, however. New school zones had been established and the district was transitioning to add third grade to our primary schools. As a result, some 20 families that were active in our school transferred to another school that fall. They felt the addition of a third grade, coupled with the district rezoning, would drastically change our school. We were disappointed by their
Forsaking workbooks, teachers worked tirelessly to create hands-on, minds-on lessons that caused kids to be excited about learning. 22 PAGE ONE
decision but we were determined to do the best we could for our remaining families. TRANSFORMATION: THE FIRST STEP
The summer before my first year, I was asked to attend a conference for first-time principals. Little did I know that I was beginning a journey that would determine how I would lead our staff for my next 13 years in public education. The conference, which was presented by the Schlechty Center, drew more than 100 principals. We networked and learned from each other, but our most critical learning came from the Schlechty staff. We learned that children don’t learn much from work that they don’t like or find an interest in, and that if we really want to reach the students, we’ve got to change the work. We learned that it’s vitally important to really know our students—their likes, dislikes and interests. We learned that a school staff needs to embrace common values and beliefs about students and learning. Wow! This made total sense to me. I thought about my years in school and how I did the work no matter what. I came to see that many times, especially in math, I was compliant because I wanted to please some-
one or get good grades. I didn’t do the work because I enjoyed it or even understood it. As my thinking was changing, my superintendent at the time, Dr. Allene Magill, supported this learning. She helped me begin to see how making the work engaging to all students could make positive changes in the culture and climate of our school. SOME TEACHERS BOUGHT IN, OTHERS DID NOT
After the conference, I brought the new learning back to our staff. We examined our beliefs and values and came to an agreement about our non-negotiable beliefs that would serve as a foundation for enriching the academic lives of all of our students. With a new third-grade staff and students, the first year was challenging, and couple that with the fact that I thought everyone would love this new concept. Not everyone did, but I was determined to move forward. Our school was a good school, according to what school was supposed to be, but we did not collaborate in groups, nor did we spend much time designing lessons based on the interests of our students. Our district began to send core groups of teachers to learn more about the concept October/November 2014
