turning outward: building emotional attachment
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Turning Outward:Building Emotional
AttachmentJohn Creighton
Colorado Association of School ExecutivesFebruary 2, 2012
Slideshare.net/johncr8on
Common School Debates
•Student achievement: How do we elevate student performance?
•Market based education: Will market forces compel schools to do better?
•School funding: How much is enough? How can we convince people to pay more tax?
American’s Top Priorities(a sample)
Pew Research Center
Seldom Discussed
•How do we rebuild a deep emotional attachment to public schools?
•How do we restore education to the hallowed place it once held in communities?
•How, once again, do we make education the work of, by and for our communities?
DonkeyHotey (Flickr)
What about the Money?
What are your expectations?
What would lead you to trust more?
• Provide good service at a low/fair price – get the job done with minimal taxes
• Produce measurable results – “run like a business”
• Eliminate waste, fraud and abuse – show us how you spend the money
• Be transparent and accountable – e.g. online check register
Rational Loyalty
versus
Emotional Attachment
Downside of Rational Loyalty
Reinforces consumer mindset and growing perception that public
education is a commercial enterprise.
Les Chatfield Wikimedia
Tell me stories about an organization you would try to save?
• Place where I feel welcome; I can gather with friends.
• Organization that makes me proud; I like to brag about it.
• Respectful, fair and trustworthy.
• Actions prove it cares about me and my community.
• I can do work for the organization (as opposed to doing the organization’s work).
• I have some influence over the organization – my voice matters.
• Good memories; part of my identity and community fabric.
Factors & Trends that Erode Emotional Attachment
• Commercialization of education
• Shift from governors to consumers
• Decline of young families
• Disengaged taxpayers
• New expectations for institutions
• It’s all about us
Commercialization of Education
Master narratives
• Public schools are failing
• Market practices will fix them
• Parents and students should vote with their feet
Shift from Governors to Consumers of Education
1952
160 million people
>67,000 school districts
2007
301 million people
<14,000 school districts
U.S. Census Bureau
Decline of Young Families
% Households
with Children Under 18
% Single Parent
Families
1957 47% 9%
2010 30% 30%
U.S. Census Bureau
Decline of Young FamiliesColorado Is Aging
Source: Colorado Demographer’s Office
Disengaged Taxpayers
% Who own their own homeBy age group
Less than 35 years 39%
35 to 44 years 65%
45 to 54 years 74%
55 to 64 Years 79%
65+ years 81%
U.S. Census Bureau
Disengaged VotersColoradansUnder 18
years
All Coloradans
Non-Hispanic White
58% 70%
Minority 42% 30%
U.S. Census Bureau
Disengaged Taxpayers
% Who own their own homeBy ethnic group
Non-Hispanic White
74%
Hispanic 48%
Black 45%
U.S. Census Bureau
Disengaged Taxpayers
How does an aging population and school
choice affect the connection between schools and property
values?
New Expectations for Institutions
Help me do
what I want, when I want, where I want!
20th Century = Centralized Institutions
Smallbones Wikimedia
20th Century = Centralized Institutions
Everything happened at a place at prescribed times
People willingly conformed their lives to the time, place and rules of institutions.
We gave awards to those who conformed best and longest.
Institutional Language
20th Century Problems slowly going
away20th Century 21st Century
Scarce Resources Abundant Resources
High CostsCosts Moving Toward
0Cumbersome
LogisticsInvisible Logistics
Limited Communications
OMG – 24/7 Communications
Choice“You can have it any color you want as long as it’s black.”Henry Ford
11.7 Billion songs sold on iTunes in 2010Forbes July, 2011
Customization
Do It Yourself
Co-create
Tensions between Old and New
New AttitudesGiven the opportunity, people will choose to design and manage their own experiences.
People value expertise but reject authority.
People will gravitate toward institutions that help them design and manage their own experiences — with advice not prescriptions.
People will give up quality for a greater sense of control.
How should we respond?
Think about community firstrather than schools first.
Too often we talk only about ourselves.
Simon_Sees (Flickr)
Joesph a (Flickr)
How should we respond?
Embrace the idea that we’re the first generation in nearly a
century that has the opportunity to reinvent how schools work.
How should we respond?1. Challenge the master narratives – schools
are a reflection of the community2. Make community building central to
everything we do3. Bring people on the inside – help people
learn as much about you as possible4. Give families more responsibility – help
them decide and do things for themselves5. Let people do work for schools and
students – don’t ask them to do your work6. Find ways to make schools relevant to the
other 70%