Importance of Community Engagement During Times of Change

So you are ready to make a change, congratulations! In education, things are always moving, changing and shifting.  However, while change is often good and always inevitable in education, the process of getting from where you are to where you want to be takes effort to make sure that teachers, staff, parents and community get there with you.

In any change situation it is important to remember that there are real people involved, all of whom have different emotions, backgrounds and perspectives to consider.  What is important is that you involve and communicate with your different stakeholders early on in a process that is truly designed to gather their input before the final decision is made. Here are a few ideas to consider as you move through your community and staff engagement process:

  • Staff First – teachers, support staff and administrators are key messengers with students, parents and community members.  It is critical that they have the correct messages to share with external stakeholders. When staff members find out change is coming from other sources than district leadership, it sets up an environment of mistrust.
  • Host Events – Once all stakeholders have been informed of the initial information, it is important to hold a series of both private and public events to allow staff, parents, residents and students the chance to directly hear what’s going on, ask questions and get answers directly from top district leadership.
  • Allow Input – While many changes have general outcomes that are already decided, such as the opening of a new school, a new academic program or a new schedule for students, there are still plenty of details that are important to everyone involved and perspectives to consider.  As an educational leader, you can’t be expected to have all of the answers to every situation. So you need to allow input and general thoughts to help fill in the gaps of the overall decision making framework. In addition, people accept change better when they are involved in the process.  Allowing for their input often leads to buy-in for the final decision.  
  • Details Matter – Many leaders are great at picturing the big picture ideas such as the need for new technologies, new initiatives or a new building plan.  However, there are a lot of details along the way to achieving this great new idea that can make or break the success of the new outcome you seek.  Making sure that your team is thinking of these details and communicating them effectively to those involved is important.
  • Allow Time to Mourn – With every new beginning, there is an ending. While the change can be exciting, you have to allow those impacted the opportunity to acknowledge that something has ended.  For example, if you are closing a school, giving alumni the opportunity to tour the school before the closing can help them to process emotions and memories associated with the physical space.  Allowing this time to acknowledge the ending creates a better opportunity for a new beginning.