This slide deck provides an overview of how the Switch strategies (of Chip Heath and Dan Heath) can be applied to leading change in educational settings.

1. Switch: Leading Change in Education
Vickie Sax
March 15, 2012

2. CHANGE IN EDUCATION IS HARD
• Long standing traditions
• Well established systems, rules, and procedures
• Culture is adverse to risk
• Many differing perspectives and beliefs on what
changes are needed
• Many situation-specific changes may be needed
one size does not fit all; no single silver bullet to cause
change
• Impact of change often takes a long time to realize

3. Psychologists have discovered that our minds are ruled
by two sometimes competing systems – the rational
mind (the rider) and the emotional mind (the elephant).

4. Adapted from Switch:
How to Change Things
When Change is Hard,
D. Heath and C. Heath

5. HOW DO WE SUPPORT CHANGE?
CHANGE
1. Direct
the Rider
2. Motivate
the Elephant
3. Shape
the Path

6. AS AN EDUCATIONAL LEADER…..
How do you direct the rider?
Explain to teachers, staff, parents,
students, school district leaders …
1. what you are doing
2. why you are doing it
3. where it will take you
1. Find the
BRIGHT
SPOTS
2. Overcome
Analysis
Paralysis
4. Make
Goals
Attainable
5. Point to
Destination
Postcard
3. Script the
Critical
Moves

7. CHANGING THE CULTURE TO VALUE
ACADEMICS OVER ATHLETICS
• Find the Bright Spots - Identify student-athletes who
exhibit good study habits & commitment to academics
as role models, regardless of what grades they receive
• Overcome Paralysis Analysis – Chose a set of academic
policies as a starting point, asking parents and student-
athletes for feedback for improvement
• Make Goals Attainable – Set a goal for study hours
during the weekend, not for everyone to be on the
honor role
• Script the Critical Moves – Engage parents in establishing
& communicating academics as a value and priority
• Point to Destination Postcard – Set the goal for weekend
study hours & engage students in determining how they
will achieve the goal

8. AS AN EDUCATIONAL LEADER…..
How do you motivate
the elephant?
1. Create emotional engagement
2. Make change feel manageable
3. Create a sense of community
1. Find the
Feeling
2. Shrink the
Change
3. Grow
your People

9. CHANGING THE NEGATIVE CULTURE
CENTERED AROUND STATE TESTING
• Find the Feeling – Rather than “analyze-think-
change”, focus on the “see-feel-change”
sequence of change (exemplary work wall in each
classroom, sharing of data with students)
• Shrink the Change – “Push kids”; parent outreach;
individual data tracking tools; student achievement
books
• Grow Your People – Teacher and student creation
of “destination postcards”; focus on the growth
mindset; create a “peaks and valleys” visual

10. AS AN EDUCATIONAL LEADER…..
1. Tweak the
Environment
2. Build
Habits
3. Rally the
Herd
4. Keep the
Switch Going
How do You
Shape the Path?

11. CHANGING THE CULTURE OF RTI
(BUILDING BRIDGES)
• Tweak the Environment – Grade level teams doing
“walk to read” and “walk to math”; “out of the box”
interventions
• Build Habits – Begin data meetings with a discussion
of “what is working between classroom teachers,
special education teachers, and intervention
specialists”; faculty meeting time; five minute
“toolbox time”
• Rally the Herd – Professional Learning Communities;
Data Huddle Meetings
• Keep the Switch Going – Grade level mentors for RTI

12. WHAT CAN YOU DO TO …
• Direct the rider?
• Motivate the elephant?
• Shape the path?

13. CONSIDER YOUR WORDS:
CHOOSE TO BE POSITIVE
• The 24 most common “emotion” words in
the English language
• Only 6 of the 24 are positive emotion
• Psychologist James Averill analyzed 558
emotion words in the English language and
found that 62% of them were negative and
38% were positive.
 Averill, J.R., 1975. JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in
Psychology, 5330, Ms. No. 421
 Averill, J.R., 1980. In: Plutchik, R., Kellerman, H. (Eds.), Emotion:
Theory, Research and Experience, Vol. 1. Academic Press, NY, pp.
305–339

14. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES