While I do think that some of the aspects of Human Performance Improvement have valor, I also feel that it is another area where consultants are the real winners. I do think that outside minds are a great asset to any project, but I have seen all too many “consultants” that make a ton of money for something that many people could do. Perhaps a few hours along the way for someone who has been a part of a process from start to finish that you are now just beginning would be valuable, but the way it is summarized by (Reiser & Dempsey, 2007)from sources from Robinson & Robinson (1995, 1998); Rummler (2004); Stolovitch & Keeps (2004), it seems that this may be a never ending process.
"..essentially an internal account manager with close links to client groups. As changes are planned or occur, or as problems manifest themselves, the PC is there to identify gaps between desired and actual performance, analyze them, isolate the systemic factors affecting the gaps, and recommend an integrated set of suitable interventions to rapidly and affectively eliminate them."
Why not find someone from another school that is accomplishing what you would like to accomplish. In my personal experience with companies who are “brought in” to help a school find their way in hard times is money that is not well spent. Especially in a place that is filled with educated and intelligent people. Perhaps a better use of consultant dollars would be to pay someone to find the strengths in your employees and nominate the people with the strengths needed to lead your next task. This may also cut down on hard feelings that may hinder progress when someone is not picked who felt they should be. This way at least the hard feelings would fall on the consultant and not an internal decision maker.
In smaller scale projects and even as a part of larger ones, I think that the students should be involved in one way or another. Now, I understand that you would not want to put a kindergarden student in charge of the new math curriculum, but there are still ways they could be involved like coloring posters to make others aware and more accepting of the change. Older students could take a more administrative role and with teachers also involved it helps everyone take a sense of ownership in the project and thus makes it more successful. You could attempt to implement the most perfect program in the world, but if your students and staff are not behind it than it will never succeed. Also, what better educational learning experience is there than actually DOING something that is a direct purposeful experience. (Dale, 1969)
To close on my opinion of part of the closing statement made by (Reiser & Dempsey, 2007) “HPI is not a flavor of the month, radical departure, or off-the-wall movement.” Well, perhaps the concept is not, but I think perhaps the method is.
Dale, E. (1969). Audiovisual methods in teaching. New York: Dryden Press. Chapter 4: The Cone of Experience
Reiser, R. & Dempsey, J. (2007). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall.
Robinson, D.G., & Robinson, J.C. (1995). Performance consulting: Moving beyond training. San Francisco. Barrett-Koehler
Robinson, D.G., & Robinson, J.C. (1998). Moving from training to performance: A practical guidebook. San Francisco. Barrett-Koehler/Alexandria, VA: American Society for Trainging and Development.
Rummler, G.A., (2004). Serious Performance consulting – According to Rummler. Silver Spring, MD: International Society for Performance Improvement.
Stolovitch, H.D., & Keeps, E.J. (2004) Training ain’t performance. Alexandria, VA: American Society for Training & Development.
Monday, June 2, 2008
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3 comments:
Your comment about finding someone from another school that is accomplishing what you would like to accomplish is one of the best ways to go. When we were setting up our new student info system here, we traveled to the different Universities that were already setup to get ideas from them instead of paying a consultant. It saved WMU a lot of money to go that route and now we are doing the same for those schools that are now coming to us for help.
Melissa
So what do you REALLY think :)
I agree with you about the consultants being the real winners. I was in one school improvement group that actually had a consultant that earned her pay. She know the ins and outs of NCAT and was able to get us where we needed to be in short order. During the work we did for that same project, we traveled to two different schools that were doing the same thins we were aspiring to do and they were more than helpful. All it costed our district was the price of a few substitutes and gas to drive to Ft. Wayne. Budgets have to dive improvements.
I agree that student involvement in change = student ownership. I deal with High School kids and when the reason for changes is explained to them, they can be surprising in their helpfulness...sometimes.
This subject definitely deserves some cynicism. Outside contractor are preyijng on administrator perseptions about the strenghth of their school's effectiveness. The cure is usually within...usually.
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