Leadership for Equity Resources

The Equity Implementation Toolkit is a set of technical resources that will support school leadership teams to do the adaptive work required to increase equitable outcomes at their school. Ronald Heifetz defines adaptive leadership as a practice, not a theory, defining it as the "practice of mobilizing people to tackle tough challenges and thrive" (Heifetz, et al., 2009, p. 14). It is a distributed leadership model, which means leadership can be displayed by people across an organization, not only by those in senior positions or management roles.

Change almost never proceeds in a straight line. School teams leading equity work should be prepared to face resistance Racial equity work, if it is successful, will be troubling to many of the individuals who benefit from current power arrangements, and disruptive to institutions and organizations that want to move forward in new ways. Even very positive changes face resistance, sometimes from those who stand to benefit in the long run, when they alter current relationships of power in the short run.

Heifetz, Grashow, and Linsky (2009) observed that technical challenges may be very complex and important to solve but can be addressed by present day knowledge, authoritative expertise, and current organizational structures and processes. In contrast, adaptive challenges include lack of clear agreement on the problem and unclear solutions. Requiring changes in people’s beliefs, habits, and loyalties is a messy process. And new learning is required while acknowledging and dealing with feelings of loss and incompetence.

As noted previously, change initiatives are always a mix of technical and adaptive challenges. However, as Heifitz and Laurie (1997) noted, one of the biggest mistakes is to treat an adaptive challenge with a technical approach. In their classic paper The Work of Leadership, published in the Harvard Business Review, they summarized these six broad approaches to addressing adaptive challenges:

• Getting on the balcony. This requires stepping up onto the metaphorical balcony to survey the broader context and relevant history, patterns, data, emerging themes, and processes. The ability to be involved in the work while observing it more broadly is viewed as a prerequisite for the remaining strategies. The danger is in becoming mired in the day-to-day efforts and failing to identify broader leverage points for change, as well as adaptive challenges.
• Identifying adaptive challenges. Diagnosing, identifying, and naming adaptive challenges is accomplished by gathering information and recognizing points of conflict that may be proxies for differing norms and values. In some instances, leadership must also recognize that it has contributed to creating the adaptive challenges that now must be resolved.
• Regulating distress. In short, regulating distress requires pacing and sequencing the change and setting priorities. The goal is a continuing sense of urgency that does not overwhelm the people doing the work.
• Maintaining disciplined attention. In many aspects, this is a corollary to regulating distress. One way of avoiding tension is to return to comfortable methods of work, even when they do not result in the desired outcomes. The key to forward movement is recognizing work avoidance and redirecting energies back to the difficult work at hand.
• Giving the work back to the people. This approach involves creating conditions to let groups and individuals take the initiative in addressing challenges. It is a shift away from a hierarchical system of leaders leading, with others taking direction and following. This means rewarding risk-taking, engaging in trial and learning, and encouraging meaningful participation in defining challenges and proposing solutions.
• Protecting all voices. Sometimes the most insightful perspectives are provided in discomforting ways. When people are mustering the courage to speak their truth and perhaps offer critical insights, they may not always choose the right time and place to do so. Or they may cover their anxiety by speaking so fervently that how they are communicating gets in the way of what they are trying to say. It is necessary to hear all voices and continue to focus on what is being said while helping to regulate how issues are being communicated.

(Adapted from Implementation Science: Changing Hearts, Minds, Behavior and Systems to Improve Educational Outcomes)

Leading Adaptive Change for Equity:

• Using Adaptive Equity-Minded Leadership
• NYCLA Equity Leadership Dispositions (link coming soon)
• Leadership in the Age of Complexity
• School Leaders: Having Conversations about Equity

Dealing with Resistance:

• Distancing behaviors
• Resistance and Retrenchment resources
• Why resistance matters (link coming soon)

Additional Websites

• Racial Equity Tools
• Positive School Toolkit- Cultural Competence and Equity
• State of Colorado Education Equity Toolkit

Additional Readings

• Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain, Zaretta Hammond
• Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria, Beverly Daniels-Tatum
• A Good Time for the Truth, Race in Minnesota Edited by Sun Yung Shin
• Can We Talk About Race? Beverly Daniels-Tatum