Transparency has become a well-used (in fact, over-used) mantra in the workplace — and, in the public sector in particular, there has been an increased demand for transparency.
For me, transparency promotes accountability, accessibility, and it provides timely information for students, staff and parents about what their school district is doing — it demystifies the work of schools and school districts. Most people in the community have a clear idea of what teachers do, but as we move farther away from that direct relationship in the class, there is much less of an understanding of what non-enrolling teachers, school administrators, district staff and Trustees do.
My goal around transparency is to help bring greater understanding to these important roles and to the full scope of the work we do in our district.
My own evolving list of strategies to increase my transparency, as well as that of our district, include:
1) Giving the Community Multiple Channels of Communication: including traditional methods like letters, telephone calls, and new methods through social media and text messaging.
2) Giving Out My Contact Information: Many were surprised when I gave out my contact information to everyone. It is on my business card, it is posted on my blog and on our district website. I don’t want anyone to ever say they don’t know how to find me.
3) Build a Relationship with Traditional and New Media: Some people are easy to contact when they have good news to share, but can’t be found when there are more difficult issues. It is often said that education is poorly treated by the media — we can change that by not complaining and by engaging the media. This includes both traditional print media and new media — dismissing edu-bloggers as ‘not influential’ would be a huge mistake.
4) Sharing my Cell Number: I remember, 15 years ago, when teachers were getting e-mail addresses at my school. Some teachers were adamant about keeping their e-mail addresses private — they were private e-mail accounts and they would only share their e-mail on their terms. This was and is ludicrous, since the district email is not a private e-mail; it was/is a work e-mail and our work is working with the community. My cell phone is also provided by the school district, so it is my work phone. So, I don’t really get the idea of not giving out this number, and this is also reminiscent of the e-mail discussion from 15 years ago. I can always choose to answer the phone, but I would much rather have people find me on a mobile number. I look forward to my office phone completely disappearing one day.
5) My Calendar is Not a Secret: I do have some confidential appointments on my calendar, and they will be labelled as such, but I am fine sharing my calendar with anyone who is interested. I know most people in the school district, let alone the community, have only a limited sense of the work I do. The more people who understand the work — the greater appreciation for the work.
6) Creating Personal and Corporate Identities: This is subject matter for a future post about how we can balance our own personal identities in the context of our district identities. I am mindful of the separation between my own identity and that of the one in the district — but they are also closely connected. FYI, I don’t have access to post to district Twitter or Facebook accounts — this is done through our Communications Officer.
7) Meet at Schools: Whenever a teacher or administrator wants to meet, I do my very best to do it at their school and not in my office. While this is not always possible, most of our schools are within 10 minutes of the board office, so, on the most part, it can be done. As well, I often use these out-of-office meetings as an excuse to visit at least a couple of classrooms — it gives me a better sense of the tone in the school. The more I can connect “as a real person”, the better.
8) I Share a Bit About My Life: I have four kids, the oldest two are in school. They attend public schools — I have a personal interest in a great public school system in BC. This is a careful balance, but we have public jobs and people appreciate knowing some of the things in life, beyond the job, that drive us.
9) Tell My Story in My Words: There are a lot of reasons why I blog, and one of them is that I can share my messages — unfiltered. I don’t have to worry about being misquoted, or hope that others will share ideas in a timely way. My blog allows me to connect in real-time to the community. It is also a place for discussion and dialogue.
10) Think Twice if it Needs to be on E-mail: Rather than sending e-mails with information to groups of people, if there is an appropriate place to post the information publicly and share the link with those who would be most interested, I prefer to do this. One tool I am using is SlideShare to post Powerpoint presentations publicly, rather than e-mailing the presentations to those interested. I am amazed how many times people have stumbled on information I have posted publicly, and who really appreciate the content.
I have said that transparency will be a key aspect of everything I do, as well as regularly asking questions like, “How could we do this in a more public and engaging way?” There is a lot to do and this list will continue to evolve.
I am curious about how others promote transparency in education.
I haven’t posted my cell phone number anywhere, but I’ve never hesitated to share it. A phone call at 9pm several weeks ago cleared up a potentially big issue that was nothing more than a minor misunderstanding. Had it brewed & stewed, it probably would have turned a mole-hill into a mountain.
Transparency and privacy are two things that I think people often confuse. This post really clarifies that although related, the two are distinguishably different. While we need to be transparent, especially in public education, we can also choose what private things we are willing to share.
Wonderful and refreshing to read Chris!
Thanks Dave for focusing on something that I just totally missed – clarifying transparency vs. privacy. I think I am actually quite a private person. I am passionate about politics and have some strong beliefs – but I don’t share those given my role. I am actually quite shy about much of my “private” life. I have also come to a point with most social media – whether it is Facebook, Twitter, Youtube etc. that I think I can quite effectively be transparent with the tools while keeping the parts of my life private that I want. Like you I think privacy and transparency is not an either or proposition.
Wow, you have really got me thinking. Being accessible as educational leaders is so important. Too often, parents and students are intimidated just because of a title and because historically, that accessibility was not there.
I have offered many lines of communication out to parents and staff which makes me always available. People know this which makes me accountable to make sure I respond.
My question for you, Chris, is how do you balance family life and home life? I have a hard time peeling myself away from text messages, emails, twitter, facebook that often have people contacting me about professional issues. As a new parent, I want to make sure that I continue this accessibility but be there for my kids first and foremost. Any advice or is this a whole other blog post?
Chris
The balance question . . . we all say we want more of it . . . .
So here are some of my strategies:
1) Unless it is urgent I don’t e-mail members of the community outside of extended business hours – e.g. not at noon on a Saturday. I might write the e-mail but I delay send it. Of course if it is urgent – I respond immediately. I just don’t want to get into a back-and-forth e-mail conversation and then miss my son’s soccer game
2) I block out a small window as basically untouchable – I coach my oldest three kids in Friday night basketball – I will (virtually) never accept appointments / commitments from 5 – 8:30 on Friday nights
3) I try to push everyone to tools I can access from my mobile phone – I don’t then have to worry about checking multiple devices (I am bad at checking my office voice mail)
4) While I try to post blogs two different times a week – I do most of my writing on Sundays – just don’t have time during the week. I always have a number of posts in draft. Only if something big comes up during the week will I sit and write a new post between Monday and Friday
5) With Twitter I have gone much more to Lists and away from “All Friends” – too many posts, too little time
6) Of course my best strategy was marrying VERY well. My wife (also a teacher) does an amazing job of keeping the kids (and me) organized, and allows me to spend quality time with them when I am around.
7) I am trying to say no. It is really hard – when people ask me to speak, or join an organization etc. I have tried to limit the interests I participate in beyond West Vancouver and my family
I do struggle to be unplugged. I am almost always connected to an internet device. I know the research on multi-tasking; but I usually run social media in the background of my work.
Finally – I signed up for busy – when I applied for my job and had a family. Work keeps my out most Monday to Thursday nights – but I try to find ways to include my family from time-to-time (I will take my kids with me to school plays for example). Like so many of us, I don’t sleep a lot – but love it. As I said in a previous post of mine, “hey, my choice.”
You have an office phone?
Wait, you have an office?
Go for broke and create an open office environment over there devoid of doors and POTS phones from yesteryear.
Nice piece.
dp
Thanks Dan – that is why I love writing this . .. for some it pushes them, and then others come in and push me. You are right, there is still a long way to go on the journey. I think I could be free of any office phone within 24 months. I get very few calls on it – usually just from people trying to sell me something. I am interesting in what an open office looks like in the School Board Office setting if others have seen examples.
Chris,
This is a great post and some super thoughts to ponder. I look forward to reading more about the role of your communications department in a future post. I really appreciate how model the type of transparency that people – staff, students, community – crave. Why not? I think that you really understand both the power of narrative for bringing people together, shaping a vision and unleashing personal commitment. Your final point is not something that I have thought of before, but it makes complete sense. Why bother with email, which limits the participants, if the message could benefit many. Thanks for living the transparency and sharing your strategies.
I am also interested in the answer to Chris’ question in his comment.
Shannon
Hi Shannon,
I (we) are very lucky in West Vancouver to have an amazing Communications Officer who is well versed in social media. She is the keeper of our corporate brand. I don’t put out anything with a district brand, unless she gives it a thumbs up. I will put some more thoughts together about the relationship between our personal brand and our school / district brand in the future.
Wonderful to connect with you.
Interesting post Chris. I see an interesting corollary of this level of transparency you suggest.
I’ve read a few posts recently which suggest that the hierarchy & distinction between administrators and teachers is beginning to blur in many schools. This suggests that in many schools, teachers are seen as leaders as well…
So maybe this level of transparency is something that all educators should strive for? I mean, I might not feel willing to share my personal phone number, but I do share my email address willingly. Actually I think #4 on the list is something I don’t also do myself in the role of a classroom teacher.
If we include all educators, rather than just those seen as leaders, in this type of transparency, then the impetus to share our work (instead of jealously guarding our lessons & ideas like they are valuable treasure) becomes much greater.
#10 to me means that we should be moving toward an Open Source model of education where everyone’s ideas & lessons are shared as per Dean Shareski’s keynote from the K-12 online conference.
What action can school districts take to encourage this type of sharing? How can we become better as a profession at sharing our expertise? I’d recommend finding ways to take down the pay-walls on the content created by school districts and recognize that the value of the content is far less than the value of everyone sharing content openly.
I have seen positive results with increased transparency as well. I’m an elementary classroom teacher and had a successful class website that was well received by parents for many years. I would scan and PDF the homework from each day. This year I decided to try a class twitter page where the students could tweet what we were up to during the day and I could tweet upcoming events. Unfortunately I only received two followers, so when we returned after Christmas break I began emailing the parents each day with copies of work I can attach from the day, an overview of our day and a look at what is coming up. It has been really well received. I have found that not only the parents are more informed, but they now email me and I am more informed. The website worked well, but the two way communication is more helpful. Seeing as I have the students all on blogs, I may try and get the parents involved in blogging in the near future also, so there is multi-interaction amongst everyone. Craig M.
Thanks Craig for the response. Have you tried embedding your Twitter feed in a public place so parents do not need to be on Twitter to engage with what you are writing? We seem to be having several successes with this in West Vancouver both at the elementary and secondary level.
Wow, I’m not quite sure what part of this to respond to – there’s so much. Time and finding the separation of personal from work / professional life… that is an important thing to get right. I suspect no one passes on from this life to the next wishing they worked more… so I think all of us as we become more engaged in media and inevitably more transparent and accessible, we need to protect our private lives as well. Our families deserve it, need it, and so do we.
I unplug at times and ignore all the digital devices at my disposal to be fully present with my wife or my kids. I could probably do better at this but struggle with the desire to be connected to my network and my work. I think the key is finding that balance early in life, especially when our familes are young. You can’t get those early years back!
Chris, you seem to have a pretty great family situation. Just make sure to never take it for granted. And for Chris W., the new dad of twins, I really encourage you to find your balance and work out your life priorities, early…
Brian – I am impressed how you are able to disconnect for periods of time. While I agree with you that few will ever regret not working enough – I get paid a good wage – I should work a lot. I knew what I was getting when I applied for the job – and the job is busy. It is also so enriching – just look at this wonderful community we have that contribute to so many of these BC edu-bloggers.
And yes, I am very lucky – I have a great family!
Chris,
What a great post! Your view of transparency goes beyond current ideas and is food for thought. I have to admit that I am not quite ready to give out my cell phone number but I have made an extra effort to make my email available in the past number of years. I find email more efficient at the moment since I am not always able to answer my phone, yet the email message is complete for me to read when I am able to interact with my mobile device.
The thing I like the most about your post and your communication availability is your willingness to be “available”, and to anyone. I just visited a board office to drop something off and I wasn’t even able to go to the floor of the person I was intending to deliver to. Your attitude and intention is revolutionary and refreshing. I see this post, and many of your other posts, as leadership at its best.
Bernie Soong
Hi Bernie,
I think a lot of what ones gives out depends on how one wants to communicate. I am very mobile in my job, at different sites and in different schools – it just makes sense to give out my cell number as a prefernce to my office number. Since I have e-mail on my phone – that is also a great way to get in touch with me quickly.
And yes, I do try to be available – I think that is a big part of my job. Being available does not replace process. Often when I speak with parents, I help direct them to the right person to speak with – whether it is someone else in the office, a teacher or a principal. It also helps me take a regular pulse of the district.
As for getting in touch with me, this would be my order from best to worst (based on likely response time):
1) text message
2) e-mail on my work account
3) phone call on my cell
4) DM on Twitter
5) Facebook message
6) e-mail on my gmail account
7) phone call on office phone
Thanks for the kinds words.
Several years ago I was sitting at the front of a school bus full of grade 6 kids heading up island to meet our pen pals for an overnight visit. I received a text message alert and when I had a look it was from one of the kids in the back of the bus – he found my cell phone number on the hand out with emergency contact info. We all spent a pleasant couple of hours building relationships via text messaging; it reinforced for me the value in sharing contact information with a wider audience.
My next step on the journey to increased transparency will be to include my cell phone number on my business card. Thanks for leading the way, Chris.
Thanks Dale for the comment. I should be clear, since I worry I am guilting some who are reading my post to give out their pesronal numbers – the cell number that I give out is for a district phone. I would not give out a personal cell number – I would treat that like a home number. Giving out my cell number works because of my role and my work technology.
Thanks for your care and concern, Chris, but rest assured, I am not acting out of guilt. The beauty of twitter is that the ideas and beliefs I have held for many years are being discussed openly and honestly by fellow educators – providing affirmation and an exciting opportunity for personal and professional growth.
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Jaime Hepp wrote a short and very quotable post called ‘The Master of Living’ which I think fits well with this post: http://jaimehepp.wordpress.com/2011/01/15/the-master-of-living/
The lines are definitely blurred these days!
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