Quality Learning = Quality Thinking

Posted on August 30, 2010, 1:05 pm, by tinapietraszkiewicz, under Blog News.

This week marks the beginning of the school year for many K – 12 students, as well as for those returning to their collegiate schedules. As the school system approaches a new year of learning, the teachers awaiting the arrival of fresh faces in their classrooms begin to question the impact they will have on these students—some eager to learn and some more or less disillusioned about the importance of their education. If teachers expect quality behavior and quality results in their classroom, there are three important steps to remember:
1. Maintain quality leadership
2. Embrace creativity and risks
3. Meet basic needs
These three steps are key to any improvement initiative in any organization; they are the method to achieve superior quality and sustainable results. Maintaining quality leadership simply means the existence of an executive management team who supports, embraces, and sustains the norms and behaviors expected of all working in the organization, whether it be the principal or the floor manager, students or assembly line workers. Embracing risks and creativity is the first step to resolving quality problems in any organization. All members of the organization must brainstorm together, believing that a resolution can be found in the creativity and risk-taking of those who work closest with the process, product, or service in question. Playing off one another’s ideas and taking a methodical approach to explore and test them is the beginning of a truly motivated and high-functioning team. Last but not least, remember to meet basic needs. Your internal and external customers, in this case of school system quality—students, have needs that must be fulfilled and satisfied in order for quality implementation to be seen as successful. Not meeting the smallest need can mean a dissatisfied customer and result in a failed quality improvement initiative, such as a student disillusioned about the importance of their education.

Jaclyn Allard
Client Relationship Associate