Category Archive

Ying Tsao is the principal of Alvarado Intermediate School.

In May 2008, four principals—Robbie Robinson, Erika Krohn, JoAnn Lawrence, and I—were invited to work with the Ball Foundation team to design a retreat for fifty-three Rowland management team members in June. Prior to this invitation, I had been involved with Rowland Unified’s partnership with the Ball Foundation at a very minimal level and had only superficial knowledge about the Ball Foundation and its practices. By the time we finished the retreat, I was completely inspired by the Ball “whole system” approach, which involved adaptive, asset-based, inquiry-driven, and stakeholder-engaged principles.

I still remember when we started the design process for the retreat. We were all stressed out from the time pressure and were struggling to figure out what intended outcomes we wanted to achieve at the retreat. As the design team, we knew we were responsible for the content of learning as well as the process. We also knew that we could not live into a new future given our current siloed structures. So how would we engage each other to deepen the relationships amongst everyone on the management team, and who did we want to be together? This design process was the first time that I experienced the Ball Foundation’s Socratic way. I learned that they never tell us what to do, but keep asking critical questions that guide us to reflect on our own practices. They support us by facilitating the discussion process, but ultimately, we have to do the work. There were so many times during this design process that the four of us got frustrated and wondered, “What is this supposed to mean? Can’t you just tell us?” As we struggled together, we realized that this was the first time we had a chance to dialogue, plan and create the space, and set the conditions for collaborative work across K-12. In addition, we had the chance to share the challenges each of us faced at our site level, and to learn from each other ways to resolve these problems. The process strengthened our relationships as well as created a network for us to connect and learn from each other.

One of the Ball design principles is “adaptive approaches.” I remember at the end of the first day of the June retreat, we immediately held a debrief session. I was very impressed by the in-depth reflections we had. People involved in the design had paid attention to participants’ reactions and to what showed up in terms of process and content. Hallie Preskill, who was observing the retreat, shared with us her observations and asked critical questions to help us modify our agenda for the second day of the retreat. I was impressed by the Ball Foundation’s “walk the talk” practice, and learned a great deal about how to pay attention to what shows up in order to make adjustments as the meeting unfolds.

As a learning organization, this kind of reflection and learning has to come from ourselves. JoAnn Lawrence once said, “I personally thought I had changed, but when I encountered somebody challenging my idea, I realized that maybe I hadn’t changed.” It’s so true that we often think we’ve learned new practices and have changed our habits, but the true test comes when we are challenged and we see if we react according to what we have learned. As someone once said, “knowing is not enough; we must apply.”[1]

The Ball Foundation partnership has helped me become a better leader. I’ve learned that as a site administrator, I don’t need to know everything or have all the answers. The most important job for me is to create the conditions that will allow teachers to engage in conversations, connecting them around work and practice that matters. Someone once said that “To thrive under the conditions of change, you have to be learning all the time.”[2] I know that I wouldn’t have the confidence that I have now if I hadn’t stepped out my comfort zone and become involved in the work with Ball.

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[1] Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

[2] Mary Catherine Bateson

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