Seeing solutions with improvement science during the COVID-19 crisis
Guest Authors: Jon Norman and Kelly McMahon Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
Teachers are masters at solving dilemmas that surface when unexpected events derail their plans for teaching their students. Their classes may be interrupted by any myriad of things on a daily basis. From an unexpected fire drill or the copier breaking down during the only free minute a teacher had available to make handouts for her next science lesson, routinely, teachers must balance their planned activities for helping students learn content or develop new skills with unwelcome realities. The plans that they are actually able to deliver in the face of constant interruptions often differ from their aspirations. Yet, the current crisis caused by Covid-19 has created novel problems for educators as they are trying to create new ways to teach their students, collaborate with colleagues, and partner with families virtually – all the while trying to manage uncertainties in their own homes.
When teachers (or anyone, really), encounter a problem, they tend to look for a cause. If the cause of a problem is clear, they can identify a solution and take action. For example, if a teacher planned to have his students draw the plot line for Macbeth, but students don’t have pens or pencils, the solution is obvious: provide writing instruments in class. When the causes of problems are obvious, then teachers can identify a solution - even if it is a short-term solution - that allows all students to access valuable learning opportunities. But, the current conditions have created much more complicated problems. It is not easy to figure out what actions to take, or how to prioritize among options that could solve the problem that all teachers are currently facing as they try to figure out how to teach virtually so that all students experience meaningful learning today, next week and, maybe, the rest of the school year.
To attend to what might seem like a mountain of challenges needing immediate responses, we think improvement science could prove helpful. The principles of improvement science point to a set of tools, methods and a way of thinking that help with complex-problem solving. One key tenet of improvement work is to understand problems in a particular context so that we can identify that there are multiple causes contributing to any one problem and help us see that not all actions are equally helpful, if we want to solve a problem.
Once the things that are stymying success are identified, an improver can consider each one: is it something that she can change? Is it something that, if she changes it, will have a big impact on the overall system, or a small one? And is it something that is relatively easy or hard to change? An Improver strives to identify aspects of her context that are (1) within her power to do something about, (2) if shifted, are likely to help things a lot rather than a little, and (3) are manageable to accomplish. Doing so yields a twofold bonus: first, it gives the improver some sense of control in a swirling, dynamic system, and second, it also increases the likelihood that anything she changes that she thinks will be a solution in her context will actually improve things.
One of the first steps in trying to understand a problem in context is to make a list, diagram, or drawing of everything that’s causing the system not to work the way a teacher wants. For example, a teacher who has suddenly found herself emailing students assignments and then creating a digital space for students to turn them in may find herself with the following challenges:
1. She doesn’t have a digital copy of something for the students to read;
2. She doesn’t have an email address for every student;
3. Students don’t understand the assignment and are inundating her with questions;
4. A few students don’t have access to a computer, just a phone;
5. Many students don’t understand where to return the assignment so instead keep sending it to her email, adding to her inbox and list of things to do.
A teacher or someone else working with students likely face many other issues – this is just meant as an illustrative snapshot. Now the teacher can take this list, and order things based on how big of an impact they have on her system. She might note that the fourth aspect she identified – that some students don’t have computers at home – would have a pretty big “bang for her buck,” if fixed for those few students, but may be outside of what she’s able to change, at least at this moment. Instead, she might consider that the second thing on the list – not having email addresses – represents a big challenge to students’ learning, since they don’t get learning materials, and also something she might be able to address herself. The teacher can decide which things are most influential in preventing her students from engaging in the learning activity, and then act on those that are both impactful and doable.
We present this idea of looking for solutions that teachers can tackle in an effort to help teachers understand the complex problems they face, the relationship between causes of these problems, and how to decide on what to address so that they can focus on providing meaningful learning opportunities for all of their students. This isn’t a panacea for all the issues educational systems are confronted with at the moment. But it is one way of approaching how to change something that isn’t working in real time, and it’s change that comes from the people doing the work themselves. And during this time of vast uncertainty that demands adapting under pressure, we offer this as one lesson from improvement science that could help educators meet their aspirations for teaching all of their students well - as we know teachers are prone to work furiously to do - no matter the size of the disruption.
