In studying social entrepreneurs from a variety of sectors and cultures as an associate with the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford and from my own experience as an educator, I have concluded that changemakers approach improving the world in three ways plus one: directly, indirectly, through groups and any combination of them. Here are some stories from the world of education.
The Direct Approach focuses on the students themselves, especially on improving their attitudes, their values and their habits. This is work of a new generation of social psychologists who have developed a number of innovative "social psychological interventions in education" -- well designed and short (15 -30 minute) lessons that leverage various forms of individual and systemic energy to improve academic performance. A number of these social psychologists are now delivering these "interventions" virtually -- the most popular on "the growth mindset" -- for middle, high school and college students.
The Group Approach involves turning negative peer pressure into positive peer pressure. One example is in reducing bullying through teamwork. Another example is through study groups, which can also be extraordinarily powerful in improving academic performance. Kurt Lewin, the founding father of social psychology said it best, “Group dynamics can be the biggest barriers and the biggest motivators for change.”
The Indirect Approach focuses on transforming undervalued and often-overlooked organizational, institutional or "environmental" resources within a school into something more healthy and positive.
Combined Approaches. Effective changemaking often involves a combination of approaches. A direct approach such as introducing the powerful metaphor that the mind is a muscle, for example, can be augmented through group-work and such "environmental" or "situational" factors (for example, class size or the use of time itself -- events that repeat themselves over the course of the school year.) One of the most powerful examples of such a combined approach is Mary Gordon’s baby-in-the-classroom project.
The Direct Approach focuses on the students themselves, especially on improving their attitudes, their values and their habits. This is work of a new generation of social psychologists who have developed a number of innovative "social psychological interventions in education" -- well designed and short (15 -30 minute) lessons that leverage various forms of individual and systemic energy to improve academic performance. A number of these social psychologists are now delivering these "interventions" virtually -- the most popular on "the growth mindset" -- for middle, high school and college students.
The Group Approach involves turning negative peer pressure into positive peer pressure. One example is in reducing bullying through teamwork. Another example is through study groups, which can also be extraordinarily powerful in improving academic performance. Kurt Lewin, the founding father of social psychology said it best, “Group dynamics can be the biggest barriers and the biggest motivators for change.”
The Indirect Approach focuses on transforming undervalued and often-overlooked organizational, institutional or "environmental" resources within a school into something more healthy and positive.
Combined Approaches. Effective changemaking often involves a combination of approaches. A direct approach such as introducing the powerful metaphor that the mind is a muscle, for example, can be augmented through group-work and such "environmental" or "situational" factors (for example, class size or the use of time itself -- events that repeat themselves over the course of the school year.) One of the most powerful examples of such a combined approach is Mary Gordon’s baby-in-the-classroom project.