“If It Ain’t Broke. . .
. . . .don’t fix it,” or so the saying goes. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about adages,
those sayings, like this one, that are ubiquitous throughout society and are
supposed to be true universally. Yet, as
common as they are, many just don’t apply to education. For that reason, as leaders, we must be
careful how we use them. Let’s look at
this one as an example.
Most would certainly agree that portions of our educational
system are broken, but a large number in our field work in buildings or
districts that are somewhat “insulated” from the educational upheaval that we
are currently experiencing. This might
lead some to utilize the “If It Ain’t Broke. . .” phrase as a mantra. In other words, if things are working here,
why change?
But, as with much of life, things are never that
simple. When educating by this mantra,
we ignore what is going on outside the walls of our classrooms, buildings, and communities. We ignore one of the most important characteristics
of strong educational pedagogy, the necessity to help students become life-long
learners. After all, if things seem to
be going just fine, why learn or investigate more about them?
When some see trouble waiting in the wings they retreat from
it, close their classroom (or building) doors and go about business as
usual. But, that does an injustice to
the future leaders of society under our charge.
Things currently aren’t business as usual, and, likely won’t be when
this crop of students enters the “real world.”
So, why ignore the ocean just because the water is fine in our little
lagoon? After all, all it takes is one
big wave, and that lagoon isn’t quite as comfortable as it was.
So, what to do? How do
we get our colleagues to drop the adage and see the forest for the trees?
For starters, we have to get educators to see beyond the
walls. For some, a simple conversation
will suffice. For others, a trip out
into the “real world” is a necessity. We
shouldn’t be afraid to reach out to those whose straits are direr than
ours. There is much that can be learned
from forming partnerships with schools that might currently have it worse off
than we do. For one, those in better
positions can provide assistance. In
addition, the future is a fickle creature, and we never know when a school of
excellence will become a school in need.
By collaborating regularly and often, schools can begin to design action
plans for those “just in case” scenarios.
Unfortunately, for a few of our colleagues, those blinders can’t (or won’t)
be removed, regardless of the support provided.
Decisions must then be made. Is
this person a good fit for the organization?
Can they help in ways other than in their current role? Would they be a better fit somewhere
else? While these conversations are
never easy, educational systems, now more than ever, must always be proactive,
and obstacles to this must be addressed.
Keep in mind that just because educators see the big
picture, doesn’t mean students do. So,
as a group of forward-thinking learners and leaders, we must engage students in
curricula that focus on current issues in and around the community. What are some of the challenges the
neighborhood/town/state faces economically, socially, ethically? How can we work as a class/school/district to
address these? What partnerships can we
make with organizations outside our building walls? How can we put a plan in place to prevent
these hardships from impacting us in the future? Even the youngest of our students can engage
in these types of explorations. The more
we prepare students for the challenges they are to face as adults, the better
we’ve prepared society to fix the things that are (and are not yet) broken.
So, while “If it ain’t broke. . .” will likely remain an
adage in the collective society, its “kernel of truth” doesn’t quite pop when
it comes to education. Instead, it
promotes a false sense of security, one that, as educators and leaders, we
can’t afford to have, for our students’ sake.
(Note: As I write this I’m reminded of John Kotter’s Our Iceberg Is Melting. If you’ve read
this, you know how powerful it is. If
you haven’t, I strongly recommend this quick read as an enjoyable look into
leadership and the problems with complacency.)
