Strategic Reshaping of Culture to Advance Equity
November 01, 2022
Appears in November 2022: School Administrator.
The co-authors of Equity Warriors discuss organizational redirection to enable school staff to find their place in the work and accept responsibility
Advancing equity to the point where the learning of each student matters relies on having an organizational culture that embraces diversity, equity and inclusion. The work begins when leaders work with their community to define what equity means in the school district. What follows involves creating an equity vision, designing strategies to achieve the vision and identifying systems and structures to monitor progress.
Achieving an equity agenda is a journey.
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Reaching Consensus on Defining Equity in a District
Writing a definition of equity is about more than just reaching consensus about a goal. Defining equity is about understanding and building a common language to facilitate discussion, listening and being able to alter one’s perspective.
The process of writing the definition also surfaces a range of perspectives about equity. Having that information is crucial for effective leaders as they move forward.
Reaching consensus on a definition of equity takes time. One of the great challenges is that stakeholders who are trying to write a definition know how that definition will affect the expectations for their work. In other words, people often anticipate the implications of a definition before they settle on the definition. As a result, conversations become circular — almost like a having a meeting to schedule a meeting for a meeting.
Effective leaders persevere to push through the definition phase. Writing a definition is exhausting work and will be doomed to failure unless the leadership is committed to seeing it through. What hope is there to advance equity if people can’t even agree on a definition?
The process for defining equity depends on the district context and experiences. We suggest these steps:
- Identify a guiding coalition of key stakeholders and influencers, including students.
- Deepen understanding of the system’s strengths and obstacles by selecting and reviewing data that tell the story of student experience.
- Name the problem to be solved and strategic opportunity gaps.
- Define an equity outcome that is clear, sensible to the head and appealing to the heart.
- Name metrices as part of your definition that measure progress toward your outcome.
— George Perry Jr.
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