Changing the Discourse
Creating Cultures for Action and Accountability
Theory of Action:
Our beliefs influence our actions, which can either reproduce OR transform results and outcomes.
Changing the Discourse has us think about…
- What are our fundamental beliefs?
- How do we define problems, successes, and failures?
Why re-examine Discourse?
TO… shift the context, relationships and language within which we try to solve problems.
TO… calibrate what we mean by “equity” and “closing the achievement gap”.
TO… change our ideas about what constitutes action.
“Schools are a major part of society’s institutional processes for maintaining a relatively stable system of inequality. They contribute to these results by active acceptance and utilization of a dominant set of values, norms and beliefs, which, while appearing to offer opportunities to all, actually support the success of a privileged minority and hinder the efforts and visions of a majority.”
— Eugene Eubanks, Ralph Parish, and Dianne Smith
Changing the Discourse in Schools
Discourse I deals with . . . / Discourse II considers . . .Singular Truths / Multiple Stories
Improving what exists / Changing something significant
Techniques, methods, and “best practices” / Learning and relationships
Symptoms / Causes
The way things are / What could be
Discipline and control / Alienation and resistance
Answers and Solutions / Dilemmas and Inquires
Ability and Merit / Privilege and Oppression
Reproduction / Transformation
The familiar / The uncomfortable
Limited time, ability, and resources / Getting started anyway
From Complaint to Commitment/ From Blame to Responsibility
“The language of complaint usually tells us, and others, what it is we can’t stand. The language of commitment tells us (and possibly others) what it is we stand for.” -Kegan and Lahey
Moving from the “Language of Complaint” to the “Language of Commitment”Language of Complaint / Language of Commitment
• Explicitly expresses what we cannot do / • Explicitly expresses what we stand for
• Leaves us feeling like a whiny or cynical person / • Leaves us feeling like a person filled with conviction and hope
• Generates frustration / • Generates vitalizing energy
• NONTRANSFORMATIONAL - rarely goes anywhere beyond letting off steam / • TRANSFORMATIONAL - anchors purpose-driven work
Moving from the “Language of Blame” to the “Language of Personal Responsibility”
Language of Blame / Language of Personal Responsibility
• Holds other people responsible for gaps between intentions and reality / • Generates productive conversations that lead to problem-solving
• Generates frustration and alienation in the speaker / • Draws on the momentum of our commitments
• Generates defensiveness in others / • Raises questions for oneself
• NONTRANSFORMATIONAL -deflects our attention to places where we have little or no influence / • TRANSFORMATIONAL- directs our attention to places where we have maximum influence
HOMEWORK GO LISTEN!
What kind of discourse do I hear and participate in?
What’s the discourse like at my workplace with my colleagues?
What is the cost and impact of ‘unproductive discourse’ on what you are trying to accomplish?
What would it take for YOU to suspend judgment when you hear unproductive discourse so that you can take leadership to shift it to something more productive?
Developing an “equity lens”…
The metaphor of a lens describes the possibility of seeing our contexts in new and revealing ways. If seeing leads to believing, and believing ultimately shapes our actions, then we must expand our ways of seeing to transform troubling outcomes for young people.
What might bringing an equity lens to your work mean?