Limits of influence
Friday, December 14, 2007 at 12:23PM "He was one of those men who think that the world can be saved by writing a pamphlet." - Benjamin Disraeli
"I really feel like when people ask me to do a keynote or a general presentation that my job is to inspire, cajole, provide some cognitive dissonance or start conversations." - Will Richardson
Right in the middle of my final presentation of 2007 last Tuesday, I had a thunderclap of a flashback: I was arguing for the SAME DAMN THING in 2007 that I was arguing for in 1994 at the same conference - that kids need to have access to Internet resources. In 1994, it was general Internet access adults were nervous about; today it is Web 2.0 tools they worry about.
It just makes a fellow wonder what he's been doing for the past 13 years or so. Just spitting in the wind?
Tuesday's talk went fine. Participants (many in the group were my colleagues here in the state) seemed engaged and were polite. But then folks in our area tend to be that way whether you are deserving of courtesy or not. We even have a term for it: Minnesota Nice. Over all, it's been a pretty good year for me in my side-line of speaking and doing workshops. I had about 18 jobs, working at conferences, with school districts, and for intermediate service agencies with really positive feedback about the work. And while the travel gets to be a bigger PIA every year, actually doing the workshops gets more and more fun for me. And next year's calendar is starting to fill up already.
In the blog entry from which the quote above was taken, Will Richardson angsts about his effectiveness in doing "drive-by" workshops. Maybe I should be more concerned as well, given that I don't feel I've made much of a dent in the world of education or technology. But then I long ago decided that one's influence changes, the further one moves away from the classroom.
- Classroom influence (Classroom teacher) Daily interaction with students -> HIgh impact on 20-150 students -> High evidence of impact -> Rapid change
- Building influence (media specialist or building tech coordinator) - Weekly/monthly interaction with students -> Medium impact on 300 - 1200 students - Medium evidence of impact -> Steady change
- District influence (District supervisor or director) - Little to no direct student contact -> Less visible evidence of impact -> Slow change
- State/national influence (Speaker/writer/association leader) - No student contact -> No visible evidence of direct impact -> Imperceptible change
In a nutshell, you have less and less influence on more and more people the farther you get from the classroom. And the more removed from kids you are, the greater the leap of faith one needs to believe one is making a difference. I'd agree with Will that a conference presenter's job is to "inspire, cajole, provide some cognitive dissonance or start conversations," as well as give direction, suggest trends, describe best practices, and even give some low-hanging fruit type applications. And be engaging.
Were it not for the very kind people who on occasion speak to me at conferences or send me e-mails saying that they were moved by an article I wrote, tried an idea I'd presented, or changed their thinking about something because of something I'd said, I'd just stay home.
I just wonder what I will be arguing for in 2020 - student access to virtual reality equipment, intelligent systems, chips that augment brain functions??? I just hope it is not Internet access.
Reader Comments (5)
I write those angsty posts just for you, Doug. ;0)
Doug,
I remember having that same thought recently when I was working to convince our district that Skype was okay even though it allows chat.
Our campus was part of a project in the 90's with an NEH grant at the University of Texas to explore using First Class software to network six of our classrooms, and students and teachers involved(and librarian1) had access to chat, bulletin boards, webcams and the like. Reminds me I need to go back and dig up the results from that 2 year project and see what was gleaned from it!
And here I am all these years later, trying to convince people in our district that this is a valid instructional tool.
Seems like we've gone in a big circle!
And p.s. I'm one of those people who have learned from your sessions!
Doug,
I appreciate your four identified areas of influence. As a current media specialist, the "steady change" is only insofar as it is allowed by the school and-or system in which you work. Those who do not want change can create high levels of frustration for the media specialists who seek to help teachers and students move forward.
I am heading back to the classroom as quickly as possible, for this exact reason. Without consistent contact with students there is so little influence anywhere that I am wasting away.
We are in a situation wherein an example of a teacher using technology in a core classroom is absent, and therefore no one has a model. It's disheartening in many parts of the country. :-(
What's even sadder is a local school was noted as a "top school" by U.S. News & World Report. I am happy for them, but... We are so far behind, less than 10% of our teachers polled knew what a blog was. Under 3% knew had heard the word "wiki" before. Not that having this knowledge in and of itself means anything, but not having that knowledge says something about how we are preparing our students. Freakonomics indeed.
Hi Carolyn,
Amazing isn't how we seem to keep fighting all the old battles. I also say "a prophet is without honor in his own land" more than I want to as well.
Thanks for the sympathy and kind words. Happy holidays to you!
Doug
Hi Ric,
I would be sorry to lose you as a part of the library profession. You are articulate, have drive and a mission. Just the sorts of people we need.
But I also understand your frustration and you would not be the first LMS I've known to go back to the classroom.
I think good self-knowledge is critical and you sound like you've give this a good deal of thought.
Any chance of remaining a librarian but in a more progressive school system?
All the very best, thanks for writing and happy holidays,
Doug