Unleashing the Positive Power of Differences: Polarity Thinking

Gain new tools for education leadership that improve change processes and decrease resistance. How?

From the “right” ways to teach reading and math to how we measure teacher effectiveness, we chase one “wisdom” and change practices, only to get less-than-satisfactory results. Rather than seeing conflicting forces, the tools of polarity thinking help us view them as equally important, even interdependent, concepts, approaches or models. Common goals, not entrenched differences, become the focus. The result? Buy-in for a solid plan built on diverse wisdom.

In this workshop, based on Unleashing the Positive Power of Differences, school leaders will learn how to leverage the three basic steps of polarity thinking:

1. See it

2. Map it

3. Leverage it.

Participants will gain an understanding of:

• ways to recognize polarities, map the positive and negative aspects, and channel energy wasted on disagreement toward greater common purposes
• the facilitation techniques to help groups create better change processes and buy-in for the changes
• a survey method that provides concrete data for creating plans best suited to a school or district’s unique situation
• techniques to use with students which will enable them to master balanced arguments and deep understanding of complex issues
• the polarities inherent in school leadership and how to leverage them to improve one’s leadership effectiveness at any level.