Dynamic Harmonization in a School Restructuring Endeavour

Jayne Hudson

As a university graduate student, Jayne Hudson worked with an inner city elementary school that had decided to implement fundamental change and was interested in using dynamic harmonization to assist with the change process. The school wanted to implement the principles of Quality Schools and organize according to family groupings rather than individual grades. The family groupings consisted of each teacher having multiple grade levels in the classroom. Hudson wanted to ascertain the usefulness of dynamic harmonization, a new decision-making process, in such a fundamental restructuring endeavour.

Dynamic harmonization, as conceptualized in the figure of the tree on p. 24, is rooted in authentic consensus and shared decision-making. The components of authentic consensus are cooperation, a sense of the meeting, leadership by consensus, dissent and dialogue. The elements of shared decision-making are collaboration, collegiality, empowerment, shared leadership and the use of win/win strategies. Dynamic harmonization thus encompasses all the attributes that are promoted as being pivotal for building schools and communities so that improved education for students can be the result.

A participatory action research design was used since the aim of the research was to produce knowledge and action useful to a school staff and to empower them through construction of their own knowledge. Participatory action research activities used the cycle of plan-act-observe-reflect-plan again. This approach accommodated the intense involvement of the staff and the researcher in a setting most conducive to the study of decision-making and its effect on change implementation.

Twenty-two members of the school staff participated in the study. Data-gathering activities included participant observation, reflective meetings, interviews with participating staff members, artifact collection and personal reflective journals. As well, field notes, journal writings and tape-recordings were used to chronicle each of these activities over the six-month period of the study in 1996-97.

The school staff's use of dynamic harmonization was examined by looking at the way in which it produced change in the individual and the culture of the group. A set of indicators was used to ascertain the use of dynamic harmonization in the school.

The results of the study showed that the staff believed dynamic harmonization encouraged the development of a high level of trust and became an effective process for implementing change at the school. Moreover, dynamic harmonization was a process that not only promoted an effective way to make decisions, but also offered staff a forum for learning a new way of communicating and nurturing an appreciation for the importance of collaboration, collegiality, empowerment, and cooperation. Through the process, the staff began to understand and value dissenting voices, use win/win strategies, and come to collective agreement. Leadership became a joint venture in which everyone shared ownership of and responsibility for the decision made and the directions chosen.

Those involved in the project reported their belief that dynamic harmonization had helped and is continuing to help them implement their chosen change initiatives. They felt that dynamic harmonization helped them find solutions to problems and to work through the day-to-day reality of instituting change.

While Hudson's study raises many questions about implementing change, decision-making, the use of consensus, and the effects of synergy, it opens the door for anyone wishing to extend their knowledge about people, the way they communicate, and the importance of valuing others.

The study ends with several noteworthy reflections by Hudson. She notes that dynamic harmonization made the life of the staff better, personally and professionally; "things" were better, more reasonable, coherent, just, humane, and satisfying. In this study, the staff lived the reality of the importance of developing trusting relationships, reinforced the significance of leadership style, developed an appreciation for acknowledging differences, and gained new perspectives about themselves and each other. Hudson concludes that because of the complexity of decision-making, the staff came to the understanding that learning a way to make decisions meant having to learn a new way of being.

Above: Jayne Hudson receives advice from Larry Sackney at the 1996 Learning from Practice Seminar.

Using Dynamic Harmonization with Students - An Excerpt from the Research Report

Once the teachers recognized the benefits of DH for themselves they wanted to share the process with their students. I was asked to help teach the DH process in four classrooms....Initially these [Grade 6-8 students] expressed a lack of appreciation for their ability to make important changes in their world. [The in-school administrator] felt that DH was an important concept for them to learn so that they could develop a power base to make effective decisions and bring about changes that mattered to them. While building an understanding of DH was slow going at times ("why don't we just vote?"), to this point the students have used the process in two endeavours to change their world at school. The first was an attempt to acquire a "pop" machine for their area. At a parent council meeting, the parents narrowly voted the students' idea down. The experience gave the students some strong reasons to like DH and reject voting. They expressed a strong desire to try again on another issue. A few days later, these same students requested that the staff allow them to wear hats in the school. The same issue concerning hats had been raised and voted down by the staff the previous year. This year, using DH, approximately five teachers stated that they did not agree with the decision to allow hats but that they could live with it and the rest agreed with the decision. [The in-school administrator] reported:

"It gave the students voice and let the staff have voice as well. This was the first time students were able to influence other and change something important to them. When the students found out the outcome, the other students cheered and clapped for the two who presented."

- Jayne Hudson

The Dynamic Harmonization Process