Last night the Keene school district facilitated a community forum. This was done because of the escalation of behavior problems within the school district that caused many teachers to resign.
Not only have teachers resigned over this situation, but families within the district also became concerned about the safety within the school based on what their children were reporting after teachers came forward.
Engaging in a community forum sounds like a good response. Let’s gather together, listen to the issues that are occurring within the school system so that administrators can go back, reflect upon them, and then present some solutions. Unfortunately, that’s not exactly what happened.
Parents went into this community forum with the expectation that they would be able to express their views. They wanted to make sure that the administrators heard exactly what they were concerned about. Instead, the administrators started the meeting by telling the audience what they thought.
The information they presented was good information but sometimes they need to take a step back and listen. It may not be comfortable, it may not be pleasant, but parents want, and need to be heard.
Instead, the 150 attendees were told to gather in small groups with a facilitator. Does this sound familiar? If not, this is a group manipulation technique used to make an audience believe they are participating in substantive change, but the reality is, the outcome has been pre-determined. The Delphi Technique is used in education to get parents to chat amongst themselves, and then have one person from each group present some of what was discussed.
How do I know about all of this? It’s because I’ve been part of these group manipulation techniques a few times myself.
The Delphi Technique used in education is used to gain consensus while presenting the illusion of citizen participation.
This group manipulation technique was recently used in SAU16 when they invited New Hampshire Listens (community organizers) who use trained facilitators to manipulate the public at these meetings.
How the Delphi group manipulation technique is described and how it has worked using community organizers
For decades, this technique was used to control the input of parents by limiting speaking times. The Delphi Technique, has been used in education to gain popular consensus of predetermined goals. By using this technique the public believes it has a voice in determining what changes will take place. But in reality, the goals have already been set. Unknowing citizens’ committees are used by the process to generate acceptance of goals that were predetermined.
Before this meeting took place, I spoke with a resident who told me about the upcoming community forum. I told him to look out for this kind of group manipulation to take place.
School administrators spoke in the beginning and even presented the laws they must follow. They then presented a video by the teachers telling the viewers about the changes they had already come up with. No where in this presentation did they mention anything about the actual problems that created a culture that left teachers and students fearful of their safety. No one mentioned their own responsibility that caused several teachers to resign. It’s hard to get school administrators to admit their role in the failures, but that’s exactly what these parents should have heard.
In the video made by some teachers they talked about some changes that needed to happen surrounding the school culture:
Provide the students a sense of safety
Welcoming environment
Reduce number of students in the hallway
Adult presence in the hallway
Orange vests on w/walkie talkies
Hallway expectations
Hall passes
As I watched the video, I wondered why some of that was not already in place. Why did it take teachers resigning to get some attention? Why did it take students staging a peaceful protest? Why were the whistleblowers (students) punished?
During the presentation on the current behavior laws that were recently changed, no one mentioned anything about testifying before the legislators on how those changes would impact the local school. The presenter made it sound as if she was not in agreement with some of those changes, why didn’t Keene administrators testify on those proposed changes to the law? The law took away long-term suspensions and included positive behavior interventions.
She made some good points, but why not make those points to legislators who are the ones changing state laws? It seems to me that if you see a potential problem with laws that impact your school culture, you might want to say something to the committee members who vote on these laws.
I spoke up here when I warned about the escalation in behavior problems that could come based on changes to the state laws: https://www.girardatlarge.com/blog/2020/06/17/danger-coming-to-your-children-enrolled-in-a-public-school-call-the-governor/
School administrators need some flexibility when it comes to disciplining students in their school. A one-size-fits-all approach may not work on every student. The positive behavior approach has been criticized for rewarding kids who exhibit bad behavior while ignoring students who consistently use good behavior at school.
The school administrators pay a lobbyist in New Hampshire. What did their lobbyist say about changing the laws?
I wanted to applaud the Keene administrators for hosting a forum to give parents an opportunity to voice their grievances, or praise what was working in the district. But unfortunately, they fell into the same old routine of using the Delphi technique. It makes me wonder if these parents will see the changes they believe should happen.
What was really encouraging? The large number of parents who showed up and made it clear, they want to help to make things better.
Parents reported that:
Teachers are in harms way,
Bullying is happening,
Students feel that they can’t go to the bathroom,
They should reward good behavior,
PTSD,
Improve communication,
Consistency around consequences and behaviors,
Revisit the roll of technology and cell phones,
Kids are afraid in the school,
Grades are dropping because of the fear,
The emotional stress that came from the school shut-down and masks.
How can the parents help make it better?
Why did it take students walking out to get this forum?
No one seems to understand any of the consequences that could happen if there is a behavior problem.
The parents had some really good ideas that I hope district administrators will act upon without any retaliation against the students who were desperate to get their attention. But it’s really up to the parents and community members to track this every step of the way. What changes are going to come from this forum? It is up to you to hold these administrators accountable for what they do and fail to do.
One thing is for sure, these parents want action that supports teachers and students. They want a safe learning environment and expect action. How did it get this bad that students and teachers do not feel safe in their own school?
The parent who spoke about the accountability of administrators hit the nail on the head. There is a list of concerns that were brought up and no one has taken accountability for where the district is today. That is the biggest problem in public education. Can this be fixed? I don’t know. I do know that no one took accountability at this meeting, and this meeting was conducted in a way that manipulates the public.
At the end, the community was assured that this meeting wasn’t a checked box. I sure hope it wasn’t. I sure hope that those who have failed the teachers and students realize now that failing at their job is unacceptable.
