In Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World, Adam Grant considers what it means to be the kind of person who challenges the status quo. Reading the first chapter, I admit to being a little put off by one study he cites. According to the research, workers who searched the Web using browsers that they downloaded themselves (like Chrome and Firefox) were more effective at their jobs than were employees who used preinstalled, default browsers (like Internet Explorer and Safari). Come on, I said, just because they seek out a different browser, it means they show initiative at everything? For a second, I considered downloading a new browser. Then, being technically challenged, I kept reading the book on my Kindle Fire.
I learned about some amazing people. There was Meredith Perry, for example, who had to keep her vision of wireless power secret because her very concept challenged too many people's views of what was possible. She employed technicians to help her build the transducer she needed to prove her point before her employees even knew what her point was. (She used what the author calls the Trojan Horse strategy.)
Then there was Lucy Stone, the women's rights advocate who made allies where others saw competitors. She joined the fight for suffrage for black men, arguing that both black men and all women had experienced "oceans of wrongs" and that "if one group got out of the pit," she would be thankful.
And, of course, most of us know the story of Jackie Robinson, who broke major league baseball's color barrier and still holds the record for stealing home. His famous line, "You can't steal second and keep one foot on first" is just part of the story. Robinson had to learn how to be "a tempered radical." In the words of his mentor Branch Rickey, he had to "run wild and steal the pants off them" on the ballfield, but outside the baselines "have the guts enough not to fight back."
In all, the snapshots of the originals were more different than alike. These innovators had different purposes, different barriers to surmount, different kinds of motivation, different processes for achieving their ends, and different responses to risk-taking. The one thing they had in common was that each one of them compared what was to what could be—and acted on making their vision a reality.
This issue of Educational Leadership tackles the topic of "How to Be a Change Agent." Our authors look at the complex situations our schools and the teaching profession face, and ask, What must be changed? and How can we improve on what we do?
Shanna Peeples encourages educators to dare to go first—to lead the changes that students and schools need to thrive. She starts out with a small innovation—getting her fellow teachers to videotape routine classroom discussions to make them more meaningful for students. Jeffrey Benson also discusses how to be a change agent in the lives of kids. His method—showing unconditional positive regard to every single student—seems simple but requires deep empathy.
Other authors demonstrate that being a change agent can affect the whole school community. Read, for example, how Dale Ellis and colleagues bridged the digital divide in their rural district. And Alison Zuniga and Thomas Cooper describe how their district rescued a formerly successful initiative when the project was stuck. Both Bryan Goodwin and Michael Murphy explore the intricacies of change leadership. What are the likely challenges you will meet if you spearhead a change? What mistakes have leaders made and learned from? What lies behind the resistance of those who must implement the new idea? How should you respond?
Several authors provide insider knowledge about how educators can be effective advocates for improvements in the profession. Celine Coggins relates her experiences in helping policymakers understand education: Seek first to understand, she writes, noting that policymakers face their own challenges. Maddie Fennell makes a timely call for advocacy in response to the U.S. Department of Education's invitation for comments on the new Every Student Succeeds Act. And Dan Brown looks to the future for lasting change. He co-founded Educators Rising to recruit prospective teacher candidates before they even graduate from high school.
Whatever your own dream—or pet peeve—about your students, colleagues, school, profession, or education policy, there is much to be done. This issue is full of resources—grants to go for and ways to make your dream more visible by becoming an instructional coach, participating in Teach to Lead, or even becoming a Teacher of the Year.
Or you could start right where you are and decide what you want to improve. After all, you are an original, too.
