Navigating from Prioritizing the needs of the system to Prioritizing the needs of the people in the system
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The first mindshift that supports the Inventor Compass Point is Navigating from Prioritizing the needs of the system to Prioritizing the needs of the people in the system. You are prioritizing the needs of the people in the system when you prioritize relationships and begin designing focused on humans. Inventors who prioritize the needs of the people in the system build strong relationships with people and keep those relationships at the forefront of their work. They explore the challenges within and around the system through a human-centered lens and begin with how to create conditions that allow others to fully embrace their human self.
Examples:
Robust student representation on committees pertaining to learning initiatives
A community-owned vision for transforming schooling
Prioritizing time at the beginning of learning to deepen relationships and trust
Competency, performanced-based assessment systems
Non Examples:
Adults doing education to and for learners as opposed to with them.
A single leader’s vision for schooling that is imposed on a community
Diving into content before connecting
State standardized testing systems
Questions I might ask myself:
What does it mean to prioritize the needs of the system? What does this look like, sound like, and/or feel like?
What does it mean to prioritize the needs of the people in the system? What does this look like, sound like, and/or feel like?
How do I see the needs of the system at each level conflict with the needs of people in the system?
In what ways do I feel compelled to support the system above the people in it?
What are the potential consequences if I were to prioritize people over the system?
In what ways might I unintentionally support the system over people?
What might it look like for me to intentionally support the people over the system?
Many of us can point to ways the system treats us as educators as just a number, a cog in the machine, a faceless name in the system. What can be more challenging is acknowledging how our curriculum, pedagogy, and practices treat our learners in much the same way. Grading practices, behavior management systems, and instructional design are other ways in which we may be unintentionally dehumanizing the learning experience.
