Together We Can Raise the Bar

For those of you who are in education and attending the WAIC in Belgium, I encourage you to attend the session on the 4500 person summit that Bibb County Schools (Macon, GA) hosted to develop a strategic plan to design a new education system that works: The Macon Miracle.

This effort is highly controversial in the city where it is happening. It is charged to begin with because the new superintendent, Dr. Romain Dallemand, is creating transformative change–people resist radical change (that’s natural). It is further charged by politics and race–in case any of you have seen or read the news coming from Macon, GA, USA.

The superintendent and his team are truly working for a miracle in systems change. They are leading at the systems level and Appreciative Inquiry and self-efficacy and positivity are at the heart of implementing evidence-based educational strategies, engaging the whole, and empowering students, teachers, parents, and administrators. But when people don’t understand the concepts that are behind the changes, fear drives their actions. This is threatening a lot of folks, scaring a lot of folks, and totally confusing many.

If you’re in education and looking for radical, systems change, connect with those at WAIC who are like-minded. If you’re not attending, connect with the speakers for the workshop and share what’s working for you.

Let’s join Bibb County–and others who are raising the bar with new systems– and start a revolution in global and local education!! Perhaps if the world starts watching and acting, starts supporting and embracing, with an intention to open the hearts of those who are fearful around the changes being called for in the world today, we can move without violence towards new systems that works for all–in education, in government, in economics, and in communities.

Author: Dr. Cheri Torres, Innovation Partners International