SPRINT 1, LESSON 6
Building Buy-In
Video play time: 11:30
We’re closing up our sprint by exploring how to get others to buy-in to arts integration. This is often a challenge and can make us feel like we’re beating our heads against a brick wall. No more! Here’s what you’ll learn today:
• How to address the challenges and resistance to arts integration head-on.
• How to select your dream team for moving this effort forward
• Why it’s always SHOW over TELL.
• How to celebrate others with sincerity
• why both benefits and features matter and
• how to use CBAM to help meet people where they are
I really like how you laid this piece all out. I never heard of CBAM and am looking forward to using this with our staff to have them self reflect on where they feel they are in our arts integration journey. I also love the celebration piece. I think that will be really effective with teachers at my school. Who doesn’t love a handwritten note validating their successes?! I still have a note from a principal from over ten years ago. It made all the difference to me and building my confidence that year! Our team will also be documenting our process with a blog this year. I hope to include the other strategies to document our work within the blog!
Hey Molly! Yes celebrations are awesome! I love the idea of a blog to document the process. So valuable, and so useful as you work through it! You should definitely share that idea in the Facebook group! Maybe after your first blog you can put a link into the group!
Pretty please be sure to share the blog with us so we can follow along!
I don’t know where to start. Every time Susan would move to the next idea, I was thinking to myself, yes this is it. Then again, yes, this is it. I appreciate the celebration part. We remember how important this for students, but not always for adults. (This is something I need to remember more frequently.) I think this will be a challenge in our district. I can see and believe that we will have educators on the frontline who already see the value and buy into the possibilities of Arts Integration, but I am more concerned about administration – those test scores are important. I think Susan is spot on in identifying the potential hurdles, but I think understanding and being able to explain the differences between features and benefits will help cross some of those hurdles. I have a lot of ideas and concerns of my own swirling in my head as I listen to this and read the transcript, and that was one of them, “How do I help principals buy in without them thinking this is a magic bullet.” Of all the lessons presented, I think this one leaves me with the most anxiety, but in some ways is the most important. I’ve heard what was said and have a greater awareness. CBAM is something I am certainly going to investigate further. Because of my work with Arts educators, I think understanding how to create buy-in within my own community is necessary and important. I would be hard pressed to identify what was the most valuable to me from this lesson – as per usual, ALL GOOD STUFF!
Hi Karen! I agree with Dr. Harris. I’ll also add that I think the work from program will afford you some opportunities to collect data as you implement lessons, etc. You can always share research studies done by others (so many good places to find that are sprinkled around in this Sprint) as well as your own data. I wish there was a “magic bullet,” but there isn’t. I also wish educators would stop looking for a “magic bullet” and begin to trust the process more!
Also, I know it is overwhelming, but please don’t feel anxious. You aren’t completely alone here. You may be alone within your district/school but you have us! That’s more than I had when I started. So, I say HOORAY because you are already ten steps ahead with that! Let us know what else we can do!
Yes, Karen your question is one we have all asked. And just like there is no “magic bullet” for your admin, there is also no “magic answer” to your question :) I think following Susan’s suggestions of starting small, building up some data, and then presenting it with a truthful caveat of the time it takes to implement and the fact that it does not solve all issues (i.e. magic bullet), but is a step in the right direction.
I’ve set a goal for myself this year to move into more of a leadership role on my campus, and this lesson gave me some solid ideas for putting my arts integration plans into action. There is nothing like this in my school or district, so I’m honestly not sure what the reception will be. My administrators are both completely on board, but I worry about some of my colleagues who are always skeptical of any “new things” thrown in. I feel like this lesson will help with gradually introducing my ideas to the staff.
Yes, you will always have the skeptical…but that is ok. Push forward despite them. Find your early adopters (that is your 13-20% of teachers who are always open to new ideas) and start the work with them. Piloting these concepts with a small team to be able to document the journey, track the progress, and gather baseline data will allow you to present the idea with a solid backing. Don’t worry about the skeptics, they will always be there so don’t let them steal your energy.
I hope to involve only 1 or 2 grade levels this school year. .Eventually move forward. It’s a work in progress.
Definitely Cheryl, start small and make a big impact and then it will be easier to get others on board.