Deciding on the Starting Point -- The Three Major Approaches to Changemaking.
The Three Approaches:
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 "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.
To go into more depth, check out Three Approaches, Annotated.
The Three Approaches:
- The Direct Approach -- focusing on the problem at hand, usually by taking one link in a delivery chain. It also focuses on the individuals. Carol Dweck and a Metaphor to Live By and JB Schramm and Writing Your Way to College.
- The Group Approach -- focusing on the way people congregate. Kurt Lewin, the founding father of social psychology said it best, “Group dynamics can be the biggest barriers and the biggest motivators for change.” Muhammad Yunus and the Women of Jobra and Nicholas Carlisle and No Bully: the Power of Positive Peer Pressure.
- The Indirect Approach -- focusing on overlooked organizational, institutional or "environmental" resources. Jill Vialet and the Under-Supervised Playground.
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 "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.
To go into more depth, check out Three Approaches, Annotated.