Leading Change: Educators as Agents of Change

The first year of the Darim Online Educators Learning Network is coming to a close.  The Learning Network, funded by a generous grant from the Covenant Foundation, facilitated a community of technology-using congregational educators as they dove more deeply into integrating new media resources into their work.

The theme of change has emerged in many Darim Educator conversations.  The projects that the educators created and the learning with which they are engaged often lead to other, unanticipated benefits that impact their schools and congregations in positive ways.  Many of these educators took the initiative to lead change by example, catalyzed by the opportunity to translate their “big ideas” into tangible projects.

This trigger video clip, “A Tale of Power and Vision” may resonate for many of us regarding issues of vision and change and leadership.

Another interesting resource about effecting change is David Dorsey’s article, “Positive Deviant,” published in Fast Company. Dorsey writes about one person who effected change from within by capitalizing on successes in the community:

Jerry Sternin’s job was to help save starving children in Vietnam. Faced with an impossible time frame, he adopted a radical approach to making change. His idea: Real change begins from the inside…. [Y]ou have to find small, successful but “deviant” practices that are already working in the organization and amplify them. Maybe, just maybe, the answer is already alive in the organization — and change comes when you find it. Read more….

It is worth taking opportunities to step back and consider: How do we see ourselves as change agents? How does our work impact others in our communities – students, fellow educators, clergy, synagogue colleagues, parents, lay leaders? What successes do we capitalize on? What challenges are we experiencing? How do we addresse these challenges?

What are your stories? Share your “special agent” insights!