All right, today marked my fifth day at my Education Pioneers summer fellowship, meaning a week is in the books. I'm helping a network of schools within the Chicago Public system develop a community-engagement plan for an elementary school that is undergoing a "turnaround" process--year one of five commencing this fall. It's cool work: different from what I've done, different enough to stretch me and give me new skills, but also not that distant. Only 15 months ago I was working with parents--and my adult ESOL students--of Boston Public Schools students support their kids' learning.
Unlike some past pursuits, I feel prepared for this. I've plunged into old jobs headfirst and thrashed; now I feel like I can not only swim, but swim well. I worked with parents on parental involvement, did community outreach with the Latino and Hmong populations once upon a time in Milwaukee, and took a grad-school class that studied community engagement deeply. I've got plenty of ideas and a binder full of more at my side.
A large part of today was spent mapping out the strategy behind the community-engagement strategy. How do I do the work that I do? My central question is this: if engaging a community (reaching out to parents, empowering them to have a voice, setting a common vision for the students based on both school and community desires) is a process, then most of the work will happen after my placement ends in August. So how do I make sure my work empowers others to care about community engagement, and then do the engaging after I've likely left?
In other words, I can't just write a handbook, wipe off my hands in August, and take off.
This will be a challenge, and I'm looking forward to it.
***
Another challenge: building an effective team.
What makes an effective team? Many things: trust, willingness to be critical, industriousness, focus on the work, commitment to the work.
And more ...
Today I was in a meeting of, say, eight people. All adults. During the two hours in which we managed to edit--nay, highlight several words for later editing--a single page of writing, the room was awash in distractions. If it could be tapped, it was being tapped at: iPads, iPhones, other laptops. A bowl of cherries seemed to present a fascinating byplay, over the course of more than five minutes, for two people. All right: if the boss or the ops manager looks at the Blackberry occasionally, I get it. It's 2012. But virtually every single adult being consistently and blatantly distracted, while others are talking, in a small group meeting, often by not one but two devices? Sheesh.
Respect is still respect (I hope).
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