Change occurs in small increments which, upon reflection, lead to quiet celebrations

Conkwright, Pat

DeNoon, Diane

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Pat Conkwright

Diane DeNoon

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Educational Considerations

Partnership Perspectives: Empowering Stakeholders

Kansas State University

Educational Considerations Volume 15 Number 3 Article 12 9-1-1988 Partnership Perspectives: Empowering Stakeholders Pat Conkwright Diane DeNoon Follow this and additional works at: https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations  Part of the Higher Education Commons This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License. Recommended Citation Conkwright, Pat and DeNoon, Diane (1988) "Partnership Perspectives: Empowering Stakeholders," Educational Considerations: Vol. 15: No. 3. https://doi.org/10.4148/0146-9282.1643 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in Educational Considerations by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. For more information, please contact cads@k-state.edu. Change occurs in small inc rements which, upon ref lection, lead to quiet celebration s. Partnership Perspectives: Empowering Stakeholders by Pat Conkwright and Diane DeNoon Manhattan-Ogden Public Schools tnt roduction Publ ic eduC'Hon was t1e slljf'led ,round a vlslona,), can. cepl wh ich call1fd for knowllfdgeab le iod ividuals wllh lhe s~i lls l0 make sound dec isions. Encu llurat ion of our soc ial y con tinues to be the primary OOal 01 educational system s. In oro.r toeducalaou, )lOuth and keell pac. with tile sweeping chanl1"s in basic societal st ructures. new wayS 01 dealing ""th those chang" must " me'l1". Education must adOllt a fu turistic role whiCh Is more responsi ... to tile needS 01 too various Inst llutiona up<:> n wh ich II Impacts. SUNlval Ski lls l iteracy Is s imp ly rIOt sufficient to support the myriad tech· nologles that .boound today. Pred ic ti ons 01 nooOea compe· tanCI6"$ lor the l"'ormallon explosloll 01 the luture must be proje<:led lrom the present "What we know is wllat we use to design whal we become" (By ..... 1966). Mere knss to Information is not lfducaliOll. It Is rIOt only what we know bul what il "",,,ns and how w~ can use it that is the test oi the t ruly edUC iltGd. II Gducatl on Is to tJe respo nsive to the noeds 01 Ou r ""_ cletv, il must ch .... ge and adoot to those needs or It will ren-der itseU obsolete . ... s education has progressed lrom Ihe one room school deSigned to meet lhe needs 01 an early in-!:Iustri'" arid agricultural society through the llresent de-mands 01 thla techn-ologlcal age, bureaucratic o' lISnizati on and shortsig hted phllowphles have become outmOded_ Time Is no longer a luxu')' we can affo rd . With the mo unting p<en~res ot the breakdown In so<:le l~ st .... ctu ras. SChools m~st engage In I~turlstlc rather 1h8l\ rea<:llonaoy IIlannlllg_ Plans lor change must project luture needs and propose In. noYaI"" avenu" 10' approaching $Olutlons. AcCOfdIRg to Good lact ( t 996~ I redetlnillon of the role 01 educat ion Is ft. qu i ftd to include a clear delineat ion 01 the desired fync. tions of scnool s Is nccessa,), •• c lear art iculati on 01 the goals of sc~oollng, • 1I1Ish commitment to !>oth excellence 8I\d equ it v, and.n und_t_lng 01 how th""" can be to<-war6ed simutt .... eously. Past attempts to "IUc " tIM! tehools 0rMI Crisis at " time have .esulted III dlsitiusKmment. Educational partnersflips Ms. Pat Conkwrlght is a thi rd grade teacher al Theo. dare Roosevelt school in Manh.tt~n, Ka nsas. She h~s been an elemell tary teache, slnc, 19fi8. Ms. Ol'rMt De-Noon is a fourth grade teacher at TlIoodore Roosevelt school in M."rnrttan. Kansas. She has been teaching si llce 1972. 30 p<O¥lde one 01 tile best ¥eIlicl"s tor realizing, new dlrec· tlon . This issue Is aoaressed by the Holmes GroUII (198811S they advocate lhe Joining of othar agencln with schoolS In o rder to ' .. . large strong re!atlons ••. • and assist In the precess of transforming schoo ls. The efforts of variOUS In· stltutlons. organ izations. and In.dlvlduals as they Mlgage In partne",hip endeavors provide the best siell forwln:lln re· de1rnln\llundament~ roln. As Seel..,. ,t98n not .... "Only by putting the rel .... ;ont III .... togetheo- In mOre productl .. and cool)<!rali"" relationships as partners In a common ,nt"· prise Is the r~ any hope 01 ach le" lng the new goals." A Parlnershlp V, ntUII Such a coll;trbo'ati-.e -.enture oocurred 011 tile campus 01 Kin",,", Stat~ UIlI-.efSily in the SUmmer of 1988. Tha Man' hattan. Kansas public school system JOined with the Kar>-ns State Unl""rslty Coll~e 01 Educliion to form a p~rtn .. • shl p 11m inar. The seminar was planned .,.,d l undGd by booth Institutions. Participant. were se lected on .... appl ication ba.l, IIIId lllCluded t<lf1l1ublle tehoal teachers sod one administrator_ Tile seminar addressed publlc SChool-uni .... fSity P¥lAe'· shillconcelltslocusing on the rolesol research. theory, and p'actiCai applications. The fo.mat consiSted of a survey of cu rre nt literat ~re and researc h. 'PO)akerl who actd'eSSi(l ex· Istln g partne,shlps . and group discussions. The establiSh· ment of a broad Inlormat ional base led to the d~loprnent of eollabo'(llive p<Ojects by the semina. ~icipants. It f~,. tile, c.ealed an _aren",s 10< tM need to continue thl$ dl. logue. to develop a gov&fllanC6 structure. arid to create new partnerships which emphas ize a collaDorati .... nature. A distinction needS to tJe made reg arding a colllll>Or. lIye Y'''us a cool)<! ratl "e precess. A co ll atlOrative effort 1m· plies that part ic ipants complement . not mOlely supp lement nch other. There must be shared planning, ""tho,lty, reo sponsibility. and aceO~ntabitily (Hovt . t 988j. Coope,.llon. on tile oth .... lland, implies t hat two Individuals or orgillllu· lions with separate needs and sellln"'"t. worlc paral l~1 to each other in orOOr 10 reach individual goal s_ Reaching now ground require s 8 .igorou s proceu whereby Individuals and institutions redofi ne th eir basic rotes. While this may Seem a simple or Common senu..,. Pf')<IoCh. In <eal itv It Calli lor resl ruct U Ii ng 01 ways of thinking abOUI SChools. The lotlowing desc:~lIlion illust,.tes how thlsllrocess can occur. Several )OlalS ago. the Manhattan PUblic schoalsystem init iated an intensl ... school improvement program _ Craw· Ing on such recomme ndat ions as Effec tlye Schools Re· search and the Camegle Rep<:> rt, I conce rted effort was made to l urthe'impfOWl fill ~ready eUe<;ti"e school system. This leet to the IChool district 's participation In the IDEA SchoollmprovemMlt Program. This program provided train· InG and mate rials to key memtJers of the school comm~nlty In order to fac illtale team bui lding and skill bu ild ing lIfTIong grou PI of site based planning teams. Co lta!>orative ollo ru within the school dist ric t and the community !legan with the design of an Idf.tal vl=1on lor what the SChoots could be and a realistic evaluallon 01 present IlfOQ,ams. The C'fClIcat nature 01 the ct>ang, model a.tlowed 10. a redellnlt lon 01 goals and. objectives and ~ restruCtu. lllg 01 SlC istlllg IlJO-g'ams. ThIS experience provided a fundamental sMlln!)a-s ic educat ion ph i lOSOph ies and lad to the empowerment (ll the stakeholders. Personal expefleflC<!= with the processes 01 change brought about by dynamic leadership and an ell«:ll", Cha.nge model caused committed individuals to m<;ognlze tnt .. prolessional integrity and valldateoJ their eltorts. This Insight led to the ISStimpHon thaI new partnerships wil l Eriucational Conslderarions, VOl. 15. No. 3, Fa ll 1988 1Conkwright and DeNoon: Partnership Perspectives: Empowering StakeholdersPublished by New Prairie Press, 2017J evolWi and .nd ....... Such. <:OIlaboratlWllnQulry denotes. proces, 01 Mllf study-of oenerallng and acting upon knowle<l\141 In context. by and for the people who use it. IHeckm.n. Oakes, and Sirolnlk, 1983). The un lqCle nature of the School Impra_eme"I model has al lowed more time lor inqui'J', empowe red stakeholde", In HMl inqu iry process. provld&d, If_WOrk 10( lhelmprovemenl 01 programs, and established. aUUClure lor malnla;nlng Or upgrading thoolv programs. Whal8>'8' the nalUIl! of file partnership Of Ille delive ry of th e chanoe model , il is imper.lIve th at the outcome. in terms 01 values. pract ices, and ben~l it s . haltl. mutual vi· sion lor trw hig hest qual ity &duc.Hon lor yout h. In o rder lor the pannerBlllpa 10 lie successful. a symbiOtic ,.111ionsh lp must OCCur (Goodl"". 1 986~ To achi""" optimum mutual bene/ita. tile tollowing pann.er$hip component' must be In place: • Invol'lf! truly commUt"fl paopl8 witM a Ole. r visio n tor meet ing mutuat goa ls. • &81td on $ulficient trust to leave one·s turt and ignore trildiUon. • SIt.or •• (Ju.llr the I.adershlp. planning. de<:lsion· making, responSibility. and accountability. • Con t!ln a purposeful m9Chanlsm with polley and st rue· ture th at encourages and support s improVllmenr. • Im::/we I process lor Chang. which is cy~lIcal and ",. II"n.reli .... • IfI"I'OiW equitable , e/alionUtlps thai are complemen tllY rather than supptementary. • Includ~ the $~tislactlon of sell·interests which are mu· tually beneticial. • Requl,. an .mvislonlng process lor the enharw:ement of 001'18. • CrNla.""nu .. s of .CC6SSibllily for the 8f1Culluralion ot 0<.1' society. The Partnership Seminar conducted on the Kansas State Unl ... rsity campus in lHated a number of new prp. posals. They W$'" genemtltd by empowered individuals and exemplUy Ih. components at the partnership process. The following brief de5cripiiOn of the proposalS evidences the commitment to the outl iMd component s: • Mannlnan Writing Proiact-a li le rary commun ity inle r· eSled In ilnd devoted to tht study 01 communication. The N.Uonal Writing Pro~t will pKWlde support and struclure to. leacher 10 sh_ ctassroom txpolriences with oth •• intereSled prote"ionals (Comb. and Sey. mour. 19661. • Coll4borsriv6 Partn ff,hlp ptan _a partnership be· tween North.lew School and Kansas Stale Uni'fflrs ity ma1hemaliC8 protesso.s to lIudy the u:1-8 ot mathemat· ics manlpulati ... s and provide iI support bllH tor im· provrng the I.aching and leaming 01 mathemalics (Hendrich and Spi~er. t 9881. " PartnerShip Institu re-a proposal whose pu .pose is to oTte, a m&eting place tor prospect ive partners, to docu· me", Gxlstinll partnerships and analyze tMI. 8UCCti •• , and to m~lch part ners .oecOfding to thai. interests in 0.· der to develop new Pl'rtnefShlps. The InStitute will also ot Ie. publishing opponun ITles descrtbl ng I hll above ac· liviliH (Nonhero. t968/. Fall 1988 • PUlllic School-Unl'ie'SUy Plftne,shlp Go .. rn.nce Slfuc/ura_, fluid governanc. document which $l!ts up • process o. t ramGwor!\ tor part ne~hlp develop· ment and prac ti ce and encourages Inst lWtlonal change th rough col laOO'81lon and partnersh ip (Talley. ''''''. • Propoullor Im",,,,,lng Public School Climat. rnrough Coitabonll ... EIfOit-lInvislotls the establiShment of -rhe Coll8llOratl ... Comle. tor Educalional Equity .nd Excel lence" which would o.ganlz, I he expertl" of edu· cation profeaalona l5 in sUCh a w/q th at oU iclent and el· f&ct ivo e. change5 of intormatlon t>etween $Choo l d is· tricts, reHlrch •• 5, praclll loner, • ..-.1 other Intefll5tDd citizens CO<.Ild take place (Anda.1IOfl and OIIlOn, t988). • Professlon.ol Elficacy Pfan_A communltv",,*sed lIP" prentlcellhlp pfan which IISllIbtl shfls a panne~hlp 01 committed people lormed to c reate a strong co n ee~ tua l fo und8110n 0 1 means. and des igned 10 develop pro· lesslonal etflcacy In future &dueslo rs at Kansas Siale Universi ty (Conkw'i(lht..-.l DeNoon. 1968). The vari.ty of the outlined P<OpoSllI~ illustrates Ihat patlnerships ate as uniq ..... as Ih& individualS who fO<m Ihem. Such diverally in planning complements 1M needs 01 Ihe ind i. idual tearner. Our multicu ltural soci ety demands that we re.pect th e rich d i.erslty ot It ~ meml>er9. yet real ize tha necess ily for unity in respOn,lbility. The ""me 1$ t.ue 01 p.artnerships. TI>a ".,hools have an opportunity to connecl with as many Inslltutlons as poSSible to enrich and enhanc~ learning. Howe-ver, they must concurrently malnlaln their clear sense ol direction and .islon. Conclusion The process 0 1 empowermenl 18 a slow and gradual ...-olullon. Change occurs in small increments which, upon flItieclion. lead 10 qulel celebral,onl. AI SlllkellOlders be-come empowered. rhey conceive a new vision and wltl work Iowai'd ma~ing I hat a vision a rlIali t y. Reterencn Byrne. David. Public School-University PartnefShlpO pre· sentation June 1988. Carnegie Forum on Educat ion and Ih~ Economy. (f9$;). A nltlon p"epared: Tuc:ilIMs tor the 21s1 century. New Yo r~: Carneg ie Forum. Combs, J. & Seymour. T. (1988) .• Manhattan writl ng prOj&ct : A partnersnlp plan." Unpublished paper. Kens,. State Uni .... rsity. Manhattan. Kansas. Con~wright , P. & QeNoon. D. (f968). "Protessional <lUicacy paflnersh l p~ Unpublished pape •. Kansas Slale Unlve. · sity. Manh.ttan, Kansas. GOO<llad , John I. (1986). School ranewI I . nd th e edu· c. tlon 01 . dueefors: Th e pertne rshlp concept. Amhe,,'. MA: Center lor Curricu lum Stud ies. Unlver· .ity 01 Massachusetts. Heckman. P.E •• Oakes. J., & Sirotnlk, K.A. (1983).. "El<panding the concePI. of rlIn_al and ch;ll]II"." Eduutional Lud41rshl~. 010. 26-32. Hend'iC~S , M. & Splh •• J. (1988). "ColI.borali ... partnership plan." Unpublished pape r. Kansas Slate Univers ity. Manhattan. Kansas . Holmes Group (1996). Tomorrow·. tuchers: A .eport 01 the Holm •• ".oup. East Lansing, MI: Holmes GfOtJP, tnc. Holmes Group (1988).. Quauty schooling and pro .... lonal education: A critical relationship. Planning 10. tomor· fOW'S schoo!.. A Proposal to the f ord Foundation. 2Educational Considerations, Vol. 15, No. 3 [1988], Art. 12https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations/vol15/iss3/12DOI: 10.4148/0146-9282.1643Hoyl , Ken_ PuDlIc School -Uniyoer$lly Parlnersnlps presenla-lio.n (June 1968). IDEA Schoollmp.-OWImenl Program. InsliMe lor Develop· menl 01 Educat ional AcI I.Was. Dayton. Ohio . No rt hern, T. (1988). " Manhallan partoorsnip Instilute," Un· published paper. Kansas Stale Uni""rsil y. Manhat1an. Kans.as. Olson, K. & And8fSOn. I. (1988). "A proposal too- ImprtlYing publ ic $ehOOI cl imatalhrough co.llaborali"" aUOII ." Un-published paper. Kansas Slate Universily. ManMnan, Kansas. Book Review Sehool-Uni_slly P .... ln .. ship. ,n Ac llon: Concep", Ca$es I nd Concerns, edited t1)' Kenneth A. Simtnik iOnd John 1_ Goodlad. Teachers Col lege PI\IU, 1968_ As edilors Kenneth A_ Slrolnl~ 800d John I. Goodlad poln. oU','he "IdN 0.1 Il!cognlzlnglormal 0< In la<mal con· neellons 1>8._n Indi .... duals. groupsllfldJO< organIzations as a meanso.l IUr1heringlhe InlereSlS Of 81le,"1 oneor more 01 Ille members Is not fleW" 10 Americ an educallon. Nearly one hundred years ago the Commll1" of Ten On secondary Studies was brought logether under Ille di rection 01 Cl>artes W Eliot. TM group consisted 01 live college presi -dents, a college professor, two tr.eadmasters Of private sec -ondary schoots. a public high &ehool principal , and the Uniled St81es Commissioner o.t Educalion. The group was 10 addreM Itr.e nHd tor a unltorm requlremnnl tor co.Ile9l' entrance. Duri ng t ile 1930s mol\l Ihan Ih"'" hundrad col· leges jo ined Ihl rty s""ondary Ichools 10 examine t he pe r· tormance at tM ~Ig ~ sc~ool grllduales in Ih9 college sel · flng. T~e colla!.>O<alion today I, known 3.'1 The Elgh1.Year Study. Reennl "udl" o.n the at.,e ot education and the ... aultlng mto<ma ptOpose<.I haY8 served 10 usher In a naw phase ot school " un lve rslty partnerships. Sirotnik and Good lad ident ify aeveral reasOn S why such all iances are currently baing tormed. Fi rst, the polil icat nalure 01 educa-t ional relorm nacessltatM at teast. symbolic associat ion among t~ow who have a stake In educalion. Secoh<l, the &hitl In American sociely from dependence upon ih<luslry 10. dependence upon inlo.rma1ion and aervices has tr.eight-.ned awareness 01 institutional InterOOpendancy. Third, which is cruc ial 10 thelhesls 01 thelext, is the premise Illat posil i.", theoretica l and prac t ical reaSO ns tor cO llabOrat ion exist aomonglnsfltutions "struggling with related .speels 01 a common ptOblem.-The edilo<S assert thai the IUk lorces and commls-&ions ot recenl years haY8, In ' helr zeal 10. lden1lfy lhe SOurces ot inett lclency in educ.,'on, focused on Iha sl>ort 32 Seely, D3V1d S. (1987). -A new vision to< public educallon." Unpublished manul!-Cripl. Sirotnik. K. A. & GOOdlad, Jolin I. (1988). School-university p. rfnershlp. In aelion, New York: Teachers College Press. Sirotnik , K.A. (1988). "Tile meaning and COn dl>Ct of inquiry In SChool-universi ty partnerShips." School-unlvlrsl l y ~fnerships In ac tion. Teachers Collage Pre ... p. 169. Talley. Sarah. (1968). ' Public school-universitY partnership IIO"'lrnance.- Unpublished pape<. lCan$8S Siale Unl""r. Sily. Manhatlln. Kansas. 18rm solution of re hablli tal ing Or replac ing the individua lS within the instructional selti ng ideni lli ed 3 S being IneUicl' clous. While conceding that t~e identl t ication may be COr· rect, Sirol nik and Goodlrod ""!Illest tMt an alternaflve II" pmach in whiCh Ih<llvldual and inSlruclional mnewal O(:cur slmullaneously is In onSer. But making parlnerships work tor all concerned Is no easy tas k. Kenneth $Irolnik argu<lS that a thorough 6\'a lua· l ive $OIl-stUdY t1)' all part ic l panls must occurlhroughout Ihe corlaborati..., inq~ lry. Such anal ysla will ideally lead to Ihe <lXamlnalioR 01 pracllces and llSfiumpClons which h .... Shaped educational theory and melhodology and will pH Itr.em againsllh9 Inl<lreslS, needs. and goals 01 the Indlvld· ualS and Ins1iMions 1n.Qlved_ From an <lnlighlened scance, lutu" cou rses 01 ac ti on may be logically prescribed. Cont ributors Schlecnty and Whitfo rd, in Iheir essay On shared problems of a Shared . islon. stress IMt organ ic rela-tlon ship~ am needed to insure partnership success. In such Jl!latlonships emphasis is placed on the CommOl> good and nolth9 good at one taclion 10 the exclusion ordiminullon ot anorher_ Issuns of concefh all! soon., belonging not 10 one Hgment 01 Ihe partnership, 001 as being a communal prob-lem, shared equally among the various participan ts. IdUI' y, shared problems will .... su ll in ioinll y conl rived solutions, providing, 01 00<.1,", Che vision is one muwall y acceptable to. .. t in-.ol_. The _art.,les inherent In such an undenal<· Ing ara indeed dl5lurblng, a point _II laken t1)' the .... Il>ors. Drawing on Ihe fragile nstur<) ot such an endeawor, Schlechty and WhllfOrd propose a protessionalizallon ot teach ing as a method by wh ich the gap migh1 be bridged. In examining tna va rious concepts and conce rns 01 school-uni ""rslty partnerships. ttr.e edllors hav<l compiled a le.t replele wilh clarificat ion pf tenTlOflOlolIY, a brief his-tory o.t partnerships, projeelions lor tuture collabO<ations and aclual case nlSIOIies at &ehool-uniyoersity partner· ships. Conlribulors aid in the <lxamlnallon ot lhe succesws of SUCh enlerprlsas as we ll as Ihe Inherenl problems. Through carel" ' •• amlnal ion ot pr •• ious and ex isti ng part· narSh Ips, pracl ic'; snd rallo nal guidelines lor ooliaboraiion emerge Reviewed by Sus..., Day HarmIson Book Review Edilor Educa tional Consideration s, Vol. 15, No. 3, F8111988 3Conkwright and DeNoon: Partnership Perspectives: Empowering StakeholdersPublished by New Prairie Press, 2017

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Partnership Perspectives: Empowering Stakeholders

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