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The managing of change is a process that
progresses through stages. Dr. Glasser
suggests that three major conditions must
occur for quality work to become a regular
practice rather than an occasional result.
They are: quality work can only be achieved
in a warm, friendly, non-coercive
environment; quality must be discussed,
displayed and expected; and self-evaluation
is the key to quality.
The purpose of this article is to share a
tip that I have found effective in teaching
the Quality School concepts. I made the
change to the Three E's in July, 1993. I
found that they increase the effectiveness
of my teaching of Dr. Glasser's concepts. At
the same time, they have eliminated many of
the negative perceptions and emotions that
are barriers to the understanding of his
theories.
The Three E's are:
Environment
Expectations
Evaluation
Environment refers to the physically and
psychologically safe environment that is
necessary for quality work and
self-evaluation to occur.
Expectations of quality work must be managed
for, discussed and displayed. Students must
learn what quality work is and how to
demonstrate and explain how the knowledge
and skills are useful to them. The existing
system of one objective per class per day,
whether or not the students learn, does not
produce quality work and/or much learning.
Evaluation refers to the learners developing
the skill of evaluating their work. In
conjunction with the proper environment and
expectations, this can be accomplished
through self-evaluation or concurrent
evaluation (with the teacher). It should not
be oversimplified by requiring the learners
to just "put a grade on your paper".
There are few companies, schools or agencies
that can claim they have fully implemented
or achieved the changes that Dr. Glasser
suggests. With that in mind, one of the
regular criticisms of Dr. Glasser's
assertions is that we can't just immediately
change to self-evaluation and non-coercion.
Dr. Glasser has never stated that all of the
changes can be implemented and completed
immediately. What he has said, is that
everyone should be talking about quality and
taking advantage of the opportunities to
begin making these changes.
In assisting others through the change
process, it is helpful to put the three
areas on a continuum. This enables people to
look at where they are in the process and to
determine if they are moving in the right
direction. Also, by removing the descriptors
from the concepts, one has a very simple
method of remembering and using Dr.
Glasser's three points. The Three "E's".
Environment
___________________________________________________________________
Coercive
Inconsistent Supportive
Expectations
___________________________________________________________________
Others set
Shared Self-Directed
Evaluation
___________________________________________________________________
Others evaluate
Shared Self-Evaluation
By using these three categories, people are
able to look at where they are and plan what
they need to do to move toward their goals.
My experience is that the three E's tend to
be less "emotionally charged". When I ask,
"Do you want to create a noncoercive
environment?" I hear that the word
noncoercive carries a negative, fearful
connotation. Some educators tell me that non
coercion will lead to the kids taking over
the school. That is not what we are
advocating. We are talking about focusing on
creating an environment where learners and
educators are comfortable and willing to
take the risks necessary to learn and grow.
Because change is difficult, the questions
that one must ask for continuous improvement
are:
Are we taking advantage of the
opportunities to include others in
creating a positive, supportive
environment?
What are we doing to create an
environment that is positive, supportive
and encourages risk-taking?
Are we taking advantage of opportunities
to include others in setting
expectations and discussing quality?
What are we doing to teach our learners
to create quality work?
Are we taking advantage of opportunities
to include others in
concurrent-evaluation?
Are we taking advantage of opportunities
to ask others to evaluate their work?
What are we doing to evaluate the
environment, expectations and evaluation
of our classrooms, school and/or
district?
In discussing and evaluating the Three E's,
there are many questions that can be asked
to help a school, business or agency
evaluate where they are and where they would
like to be, in the above continuum.
This simplified presentation of the concepts
of quality may be helpful to managers
committed to constant improvement.
References:
Crawford, Bodine, Hoglund. (1993) The School
for Quality Learning: Managing the School
and Classroom the Deming Way. Champaign, IL:
Research Press.
Glasser, William. (1992) The Quality School.
New York: Harper Perennial.
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