{"id":5,"date":"2008-11-10T09:31:32","date_gmt":"2008-11-10T17:31:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/?page_id=5"},"modified":"2009-02-11T08:18:46","modified_gmt":"2009-02-11T16:18:46","slug":"the-lens","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/?page_id=5","title":{"rendered":"Why is Sense-Making so hard?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Why is Sense-Making so hard?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Thus, the task is not so much to see what no one yet has seen\u2026<br \/>\nbut to think about what nobody yet has thought about,,,<br \/>\n\u2026which everybody sees. <\/em>Schopenhauer<\/p>\n<p>We have been told that to really understand how schools can effectively address the increasingly complex conditions that impact the lives of children today we first have to \u201c<em>get-out-of-the-box<\/em>,\u201d \u201c<em>shift our paradigm<\/em>\u2019\u201d and \u201c<em>connect-the-dots<\/em>.\u201d <strong>Why? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>One answer may be a learning disability we share in common.\u00a0 We can\u2019t easily <em>make sense<\/em> of the myriad conditions that children, parents, teachers <em>must<\/em> respond to today.\u00a0 And before we can get our hands around these conditions we first have to get our minds around them.<\/p>\n<p>Obviously Making Sense is <em>necessary<\/em>\u2026 before we can \u201cchange,\u201d \u201cfix,\u201d \u201cimprove,\u201d \u201ctransform\u201d the system whose \u201cresults\u201d we see playing out in the acts of children today we must be able to understand them.\u00a0\u00a0 But why should it be so <em>hard? <\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Why doesn\u2019t <em>common sense<\/em> seem work any more?\u00a0 Why do there seem to be fewer and fewer opportunities for applying the <em>common sense<\/em> of experienced practitioners to the important <em>work<\/em> that schools <strong>must<\/strong> do?<\/li>\n<li>Why should it be so hard to <em>make sense<\/em> of a \u201cknown\u201d organization that most have directly experienced, as one observer noted, as \u201c<em>veterans or victims<\/em>?\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Why do practices, proven effective by sound research, seldom work for long when inserted into the flow of systemic work of schools?\u00a0 Why, in a twist on an old adage, if the \u201coperations are a success,\u201d do the <em>doctors<\/em> (whose capacities the system must sustain) die?\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Why should it be so hard for the \u201cBlind men\u201d to see the \u201cElephant\u201d &#8212; the already-connected \u201csystem\u201d they interact with each day? As Seymour Sarason once noted after reviewing all the major reform reports:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul><em>&#8220;When you read the myriad of recommendations these commission reports contain, it becomes clear that they are not informed by any conception of a system.\u00a0 That is a charitable assessment.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u2026Having read scads of commission reports, I can only conclude that they rest on the invalid assumption that school systems are unique systems . . . those outside the system with responsibility for articulating a program for reform have nothing resembling a holistic conception of the system they seek to influence.&#8221;<\/em><\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Why do so many people trying to help schools start by accepting certain conditions of schooling as <em>natural<\/em>, <em>intractable<\/em> and <em>unsolvable paradoxes<\/em> that just <em>go-with-the-territory<\/em>?\u00a0 And then end up invisibly supporting the common sense of common practice that, like the \u201celephant-on-the-table, pretends they aren\u2019t there..<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Again, the answer can be found in our common learning disability.\u00a0 Actually, they <strong>do<\/strong> make sense&#8212; or they wouldn\u2019t be supported as common practice.\u00a0 But it is a different form of \u201ccommon sense.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We characterize \u201ccommon sense\u201d as what people seem to instinctively know [and therefore seldom think or talk about].\u00a0 It\u2019s a body of theories developed from our experiences of things that work\u2026 or <em>seem<\/em> to work.\u00a0 And it is a product of our mind\u2019s <em>sense<\/em>-making system.<\/p>\n<p>But there is a category of theory that psychologists call \u201ccommon sense realism,\u201d \u201cnatural realism,\u201d or \u201cnaive realism.\u201d These are \u201c<em>theories that the world is perceived exactly as it is<\/em>.&#8221;\u00a0 We see it, and therefore believe it. Observable experience tells us it\u2019s so. The earth looks flat, it must be. The sun appears to move around the earth therefore the earth must be at the center. When teaching young children these are termed \u201cnaive theories,\u201d and we expect a child to hold them until taught otherwise.<\/p>\n<p>But for adults, on the other hand, the \u201cteaching\u201d [or unlearning] task is much harder because the roots of \u201ccommon sense realism\u201d go much deeper. Reinforced by personal experience, have become entwined with other observable conditions that we \u201csaw\u201d because we believed. Cognitive science has provided new terms &#8211; \u201cmental models,\u201d \u201cparadigms\u201d &#8211; to confirm the old idea that our minds program themselves by a self-fulfilling cycle of \u201c<em>seeing what we believe and believing what we then see<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As a result, today\u2019s difficulties understanding what we \u201csee\u201d when we look at classrooms and schools may be caused by frameworks of\u00a0 \u201ccommon sense beliefs\u201d created from prior observations.\u00a0 For example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> First, we see a single teacher acting in an isolated classroom setting and conclude that what we see happening is the <em>teaching process<\/em>. The <strong>teaching process<\/strong> is what we see the <strong>teacher<\/strong> doing. <strong>The person and the process are the same<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li> Then we leave the classroom, and \u201csee\u201d that the classroom interactions of teaching and learning take place in a <em>school building<\/em> &#8212; a manageable \u201csystem\u201d created with the expectation that it can support and sustain that teacher\u2019s management of those learning interactions. Now it appears as if the <strong>building<\/strong> and the <strong>system<\/strong> that contains and continually influences the quality of teaching and learning are the same. We conclude that the <strong>building must be the sustainable container for the teaching process<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li> As a consequence of accepting the building as \u201cthe system,\u201d we believe that systemic change must be directed at creating more strong, self-contained units like this. When we do, we think we have \u201cchanged the <em>system<\/em>.\u201d<\/li>\n<li> It also seems like common sense to hold <em>accountable<\/em> the two individuals we\u2019ve been observing &#8212; a <em>teacher<\/em> who \u201cobviously\u201d must be the one accountable for the outcomes of a complex <em>teaching process<\/em> that is expected to meet the needs of <strong>each<\/strong> <em>student<\/em>, and a <em>principal<\/em> who \u201cobviously\u201d must be the one accountable for the <em>system of related support<\/em> that is expected to meet the unique teaching needs of <strong>each<\/strong> <em>teacher<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And, because that <em>makes sense<\/em> to us, we then provide rewards and punishments based upon those expectations. Then when teachers and principals suggest that they are being held accountable for outcomes they don\u2019t totally \u201ccontrol,\u201d we blame them for being \u201cdefensive\u201d and &#8220;unchangeable.&#8221; And develop programs to \u201cfix,\u201d punish or replace them.<\/p>\n<p>This is one of those paradigm paradoxes at the core of every failed attempt to &#8220;fix&#8221; schools. Just as the earth looks flat and it seems that the sun revolves around the earth, when you look into classrooms it does <em>seem<\/em> that teachers \u201ccause\u201d learning. And when you look at a school it seems obvious that \u201call\u201d a teacher might need to cause that learning can be found there.<\/p>\n<p>But do teachers cause learning? Do building principal\u2019s cause teaching? Do acorns cause oak trees? No!\u00a0 Acorns, teachers, and principals are each critically necessary, but not sufficient, contributors to the final result. In each case, the other influences must come from the environment &#8212; the <strong>immediate system of influences <\/strong>on the teacher\/tree and the developing seed\/learner.<\/p>\n<p>But because of our \u201c<em>common sense<\/em> theories,\u201d when we look at the conditions and problems of schools today on mental maps shaped by these theories, we have trouble \u201cseeing\u201d the actual scope and nature of that immediate environment.<\/p>\n<p>It <em>seems<\/em> to make sense that the \u201cimmediate \u201csystem of influences is the school building because of it\u2019s physical proximity to the classroom. Yet we continually fail to sustain effective changes in that environment when building leadership changes, or to spread [or scale-up] that effective model to other buildings in its own district. Our common sense answer (since our minds are pre-programmed for sense-making, and they must create connections between effects and their \u201ccauses\u201d) is that the problem is &#8220;out there&#8221; in the school district \u2013 a separate entity outside what we&#8217;ve perceived as \u201c<em>the system<\/em>\u201d that we can do something about right now.<\/p>\n<p>That conclusion, unfortunately, keeps us from recognizing (1) the scope and nature of the school district \u201ctree\u201d as the <em>smallest bounded unit<\/em> that can support and sustain the system\u2019s required connecting processes; and (2) that within that system, those processes are the acts of <em>interdependent<\/em> people.<\/p>\n<p>As illustrated in the story of school system change that is woven through this website, (<a title=\"Catching Them Doing Something Right\" href=\"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/?page_id=9\" target=\"_self\">Catching Them Doing Something Right<\/a>.) the school district is the \u201ccontainer\u201d that can, and must, frame that focused interdependence.<\/p>\n<p>Missing that sense-making understanding, we will continue to confuse <em>individuals<\/em> with the interdependent acts of individuals\u00a0 &#8212; the relational <em>processes<\/em> that must support their work.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Is this Education\u2019s problem alone?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The challenge of overriding the seeming knowledge created by &#8220;Common-Sense Realism&#8221; is not education\u2019s alone.<\/p>\n<p>As we know from <em>Copernicus\u2019<\/em> and <em>Galileo\u2019s<\/em> unfortunate experiences, alternative explanations for <em>why<\/em> things happen have a difficult time breaking through the \u201cmaps\u201d developed from what people think they \u201cknow\u201d because they observed it.<\/p>\n<p>Usually there is no real pressure on them to change their view.\u00a0 For example, before <em>Copernicus<\/em>, daily work still could be done, people could get from here to there even if they believed the earth was flat and also the center of the universe. They may not have accomplished their tasks as effectively as they could have, but they still could use their \u201ccommon sense\u201d to get much of the work done. The only ones who would have had to take the new theory seriously would have been those whose task accomplishment required it. For example, had NASA existed then &#8212; using \u201ccommon-sense\u201d-based pre-Copernican maps &#8212; <strong>they could do everything \u201cright.\u201d<\/strong> They could have the best-trained astronauts and the latest equipment, <strong>but would seldom get where they intended to go.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If something about that seems to resonate with conditions on the front pages of today\u2019s newspapers as policymakers struggle to understand what to do about the economy, the environment, terrorism, etc., it may be because knowing <em>what to do<\/em> but not <em>how to do it<\/em> is a consequence of using maps, based on &#8220;Common-Sense Realism,&#8221; that don\u2019t match the territory that must be navigated.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The good news is that this is the <em>perceptual<\/em> condition that this website addresses and we don\u2019t have to wait 300 years for practice to catch up with theory.<\/strong> There is a need for a different way to map the territory we\u2019ve been \u201cseeing\u2019 through old beliefs about the scope and nature of the work of schools.<\/p>\n<p>For evidence and theory, see <a title=\"Mapping the Natural Territory\" href=\"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/?page_id=107\" target=\"_self\">MAPPING THE NATURAL TERRITORY<\/a>. For the principles embedded in the practice-viewing lens see <a title=\"Making Sense\" href=\"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/?page_id=2\" target=\"_self\">MAKING SENSE THROUGH A SYSTEMIC LEADERSHIP &amp; MANAGEMENT LENS<\/a>. For the products of that view see <a title=\"What Can Be Seen\" href=\"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/?page_id=62\" target=\"_self\">WHAT CAN BE SEEN&#8230;AND LEARNED?<\/a><br \/>\n<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal<\/w:View> <w:Zoom>0<\/w:Zoom> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables \/> <w:SnapToGridInCell \/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct \/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules \/> <\/w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4<\/w:BrowserLevel> <\/w:WordDocument> <\/xml><![endif]--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why is Sense-Making so hard? Thus, the task is not so much to see what no one yet has seen\u2026 but to think about what nobody yet has thought about,,, \u2026which everybody sees. Schopenhauer We have been told that to really understand how schools can effectively address the increasingly complex conditions that impact the lives [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":43,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34,"href":"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5\/revisions\/34"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/43"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}