What School Reformers Need
School reformers have similar goals of advocating for, designing, or implementing planned changes in educational policies, practices, and structures to improve student outcomes and system efficiency. The letters to a young education reformer argue that disagreement is intellectual and is useful when it’s done effectively, especially in a polarized world. There is a value in engaging seriously with people who see things differently and have different ideas whether ideologically, professionally, and institutionally. Hess frames disagreement not as a hurdle to be removed but as an essential condition for more thoughtful, durable school reform.
Why is disagreement valuable?
We typically tend to stay or be comfortable with people who are similar to us and we treat people with opposing ideas as obstacles. When I arrive at an event, meeting, class, or a conference I typically scan the room to see if I notice anyone that I know to go sit by. This is similar to conversations around conflict discussions. We tend to associate with people with similar ideas to ours because it’s easier and less daunting. Hess believes that weakens the quality and legitimacy of reforms. Deliberate conversation with critics helps us see different perspectives and question our own biases which allow us to implement challenges that we often overlook. It also allows us to form a practical strategy for better implementation. Scott Page, an University of Michigan professor explains it the best, “The best problem solvers tend to be similar; therefore, a collection of the best problem solvers performs little better than any one of them individually.” Over time, relationships across different sides
What does it require of reformers?
Hess suggested that reformers need humility. He urges reformers to be “well-served by humility because he recognizes how easy it is to overpromise and underestimate complex issues. He also highlights temperance and self-discipline rather than chasing every slogan or fight, as key to doing reform well. Lastly he suggests honesty. He urged reformers to be candid about uncertainty, tradeoffs and long time solutions. School reformers need to see all sides of the issues to fully understand what is best to implement. It is important that reformers seek out people who share your same concerns and listen for perspectives that you might be missing.
How to engage disagreement productively?
Our current climate politically is that the left and the right often disagree about everything and people are often arguing from different sides and facts. Hess’ advice includes treating disagreement as a design tool not a threat and learning how to work with people who disagree with your ideas. The Moral Foundations theory for example, care and fairness vs. loyalty, authority, and sanctity suggests that we start by understanding each other’s moral lens, lowering the ego stakes, and speak to the other person's moral language. This is important because we know that when people are blind to others’ moral foundations, they misread opponents’ motives and demonize them, which makes policy compromise and learning almost impossible.
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