Changing the Discourse
Creating Cultures for Action and Accountability
Theory of Action:
Our beliefs influence our actions, which can either reproduce OR transform results and outcomes.
Changing the Discourse has us think about…
 What are our fundamental beliefs?
 How do we define problems, successes, and failures?
Why re-examine Discourse?
TO… shift the context, relationships and language within which we try to solve problems.
TO… calibrate what we mean by “equity” and “closing the achievement gap”.
TO… change our ideas about what constitutes action.
DISCOURSE ONE is
the language typically
used to talk about,
question, and plan the
work of schools,
change or reform.
DISCOURSE TWO is the
language that tends to be
about uncomfortable,
unequal, ineffective,
prejudicial conditions in
schools.
“Schools are a major part of society’s institutional processes for maintaining a
relatively stable system of inequality. They contribute to these results by active
acceptance and utilization of a dominant set of values, norms and beliefs, which,
while appearing to offer opportunities to all, actually support the success of a
privileged minority and hinder the efforts and visions of a majority.”
— Eugene Eubanks, Ralph Parish, and Dianne Smith
Changing the Discourse in Schools
Discourse I deals with . . .
Discourse II considers . . .
Singular Truths
Multiple Stories
Improving what exists
Changing something significant
Techniques, methods, and “best practices”
Learning and relationships
Symptoms
Causes
The way things are
What could be
Discipline and control
Alienation and resistance
Answers and Solutions
Dilemmas and Inquires
Ability and Merit
Privilege and Oppression
Reproduction
Transformation
The familiar
The uncomfortable
Limited time, ability, and resources
Getting started anyway
From Complaint to Commitment/ From Blame to Responsibility
“The language of complaint usually tells us, and others, what it is we can’t stand. The language of commitment tells us
(and possibly others) what it is we stand for.”
-Kegan and Lahey
Moving from the “Language of Complaint” to the “Language of Commitment”
Language of Complaint
Language of Commitment
• Explicitly expresses what we cannot do
• Explicitly expresses what we stand for
• Leaves us feeling like a whiny or cynical person
• Leaves us feeling like a person filled with conviction and
hope
• Generates frustration
• Generates vitalizing energy
• NONTRANSFORMATIONAL - rarely goes anywhere
beyond letting off steam
• TRANSFORMATIONAL - anchors purpose-driven work
Moving from the “Language of Blame” to the “Language of Personal Responsibility”
Language of Blame
Language of Personal Responsibility
• Holds other people responsible for gaps between
intentions and reality
• Generates productive conversations that lead to problemsolving
• Generates frustration and alienation in the speaker
• Draws on the momentum of our commitments
• Generates defensiveness in others
• Raises questions for oneself
• NONTRANSFORMATIONAL -deflects our attention to
places where we have little or no influence
• TRANSFORMATIONAL- directs our attention to places
where we have maximum influence
HOMEWORK
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GO
LISTEN!
What kind of discourse do I hear and participate in?
What’s the discourse like at my workplace with my colleagues?
What is the cost and impact of ‘unproductive discourse’ on what you are trying to accomplish?
What would it take for YOU to suspend judgment when you hear unproductive discourse so that you can take
leadership to shift it to something more productive?
Developing an “equity lens”…
Whenever I arrive on a real location, I have to
move around and work out what the best angles
are going to be. When I was moving around with
the lens, I discovered things that the naked eye
would not have.”
– filmmaker Pedro Almodovar
The metaphor of a lens describes the possibility of seeing our contexts in new and revealing ways. If seeing
leads to believing, and believing ultimately shapes our actions, then we must expand our ways of seeing to
transform troubling outcomes for young people.
What might bringing an equity lens to your work mean?