Transformation 101: A Seminar for Educators Interested in Transforming the Quality of Their Teaching and Learning Processes
Workshop Description
If the vocational education component of the American education system is water, but today’s high-technology workplace requires ice – we cannot become ice and remain in liquid state. There’s no use trying to reform or improve the viscosity of the water if the workplace needs ice!
If our elementary schools are caterpillars, but today’s child – facing an increasingly complex society, provided a fractured family structure – needs a butterfly, we cannot become a butterfly and remain a caterpillar. Unfortunately, most calls for so-called “school reform” seem geared to flogging the caterpillar to get it to crawl faster – which does not help it to become a butterfly!
The premise of this seminar, available in two- and three-day formats, is that we do not need school reform. What’s needed in America’s schools is transformation – and transformation requires a complete change in state. The late Dr. W. Edwards Deming provided a sound philosophy and framework for accomplishing the needed transformation in the style and behavior of Western management.
The purpose of this seminar is to examine how Deming’s principles can help educators to improve the quality of their teaching, learning and administrative processes. Via hands-on workshops, demonstrations and lively lectures, you will learn how you can use the techniques and concepts to achieve dramatic improvements in your district’s and school’s processes. By the end of this program you will have powerful techniques to add to your professional toolbox as well as some challenging theories and insights to guide your future plans and actions to yield dramatic and continuing improvements for the good of America’s school children.
Workshop Topics
- Adopting a "Systems Perspective"
- Basic (Yet Powerful) Statistical Methods
- Theory of Variation: Stable Process; Capable Process; Six Sigma Capability
- Basic Procedure for Improving a System
- Transformation Model: Deming’s 14 Points for Management Restated for Education
- Attributes of a Leader
- Process for Getting Started on the Transformation at a School or District Level
- Planning and Measuring Progress
Who Should Attend?
Board members, senior administrators, teachers, site-based team members and others who will be directly involved in their schools’ quality improvement efforts. Representatives from local business partners, parent/teacher organizations, municipal government and others will also benefit from participating in this training.
Testimonials
“Excellent! A real-world wake-up call.” — Elizabeth A. Hart, Principal, Pegasystems Inc.
“Under Jim’s guidance, we have applied his tools, principles and concepts to achieve a number of impressive improvements. Local business partners are reporting a much higher level of respect for our district; new behaviors are evident among administrators and teaching staff; and student test scores have shown statistically significant improvement in just a four-year period.” — Dr. Elizabeth Clark, Deputy Superintendent, Hallsville Independent School District