I was fortunate enough to be at a conference to hear Dr. Anthony Muhammad speak about school culture. He gave a different look on education that opens your eyes to changes we make. Many are structural changes that are purposed to change adult and child behaviors. Such as, block scheduling, dress code, common planning time, etc. All of these structural changes cannot work if we do not address the behavior of the adults and children.
Block scheduling is suppose to give students and teachers more time on task. The change agents would want the teachers to provide intervention and enrichment during the class period. But, if that is the desired outcome, was it addressed? More often, it is not. We put the structure in place and it doesn't produce the desired outcome.
Dress codes are designed to make the climate of the school more professional. A leadership group in conjunction with the community and board of education come together to make a dress code or uniform code that will increase student achievement. But, if a student is out of code, then we punish them by making them miss educational opportunities by putting them in "In-school suspension." The structure change doesn't match the desired behavioral change.
This could go on and on with examples. So, the next time you want to change a behavior be sure to analyze whether the change will get the desired behavior. Do not be afraid to address the behavior, only then will you become a change agent.
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