The Minimalist Educator Podcast
A podcast about paring down to focus on the purpose and priorities in our roles.
The Minimalist Educator Podcast
Episode 076: Cutting Through Initiative Clutter with Tammy & Christine
Feeling overwhelmed by the constant barrage of new programs and initiatives hitting your school? You're not alone. In this thought-provoking conversation, Christine and Tammy tackle the challenge of "initiative clutter" that plagues schools everywhere.
The hard truth is that we've created an unsustainable cycle in education. Research clearly shows meaningful change requires 3-5 years for proper implementation, yet schools typically cycle through initiatives every two years. This creates not just fatigue, but genuine frustration as educators invest time mastering approaches only to abandon them before seeing results. As one host points out, "You haven't really had enough time to see from the data whether it is effective or not."
The hosts distinguish between mandated initiatives (those coming from district or state levels) and self-selected ones, exploring how each presents unique challenges. They emphasize the crucial role school leaders play as gatekeepers who set the tone for implementation. Leaders who dictate "front cover to back cover, no questions asked" create resistance, while those who invite collaboration and contextual adaptation foster sustainable change.
Whether you're a classroom teacher feeling whiplashed by constant change or an administrator trying to balance district mandates with your school's unique needs, this episode offers practical strategies for decluttering your approach. Learn how to evaluate initiatives against your school's strategic plan, identify what truly serves your community, and build your capacity to navigate change with purpose.
Ready to break free from the initiative merry-go-round? Subscribe now and join the conversation about teaching and leading with greater clarity, purpose, and joy.
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Welcome to the Minimalist Educator podcast, where the focus is on a less-is-more approach to education. Join your hosts, christine Arnold and Tammy Musiawski, authors of the Minimalist Teacher and your school leadership, edit A Minimalist Approach to Rethinking your School Ecosystem each week, as they explore practical ways to simplify your work, sharpen your focus and amplify what matters most, so you can teach and lead with greater clarity, purpose and joy.
Speaker 2:Schools are bursting with great ideas, but sometimes all of those great ideas can end up feeling a little bit chaotic. In today's episode we're talking about when it's time to declutter, not your classroom shelves but the programs, projects and initiatives competing for your school's time and energy. We'll explore how to spot what's no longer serving your community and share some practical ways to streamline so your focus stays sharp and your impact stays strong. Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the Minimalist Educator Podcast.
Speaker 2:Tammy and I are chatting together today. How are you, tammy? I am doing well. Christine, how are you? I am fantastic. I always love our chats together. Today we are talking about something near and dear to our hearts and that we wrote about in our first book, the Minimalist Teacher. Yes, I did have to look at the cover of the book to check the title there whoops. But yes, we're talking about decluttering initiatives. So in our busy school contexts, where it sometimes feel like we have initiatives coming at us thick and fast all the time, it can feel like maybe it is impossible to declutter this area of our work. But hopefully we can think a little bit more about that today and offer a path forward where we can declutter a little bit.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that sounds great. I do think that we've all experienced this right. So, whatever role we're in, most of us have started as teachers. I started as a TA and in any role that you're in in a school, you're going to feel this. So it could be office staff, could be TA, classroom teacher, specialist.
Speaker 3:But I think our school leaders feel this potentially the most because the filtering often comes through them. If we're talking about those bigger picture initiatives right, because we have large scale mandated district initiatives or you know, however, regional initiatives versus our self-selected ones, so we'll kind of separate those out. But the school leader really does have a big job in this kind of initiative clutter situation, I guess we can call it. I guess we can call it because they do have to look at what the goals of the school are and is the initiative going to meet the priorities for the school? And if it's something that has been mandated, how do you make that fit into your school culture and what you do already at your school so it doesn't feel like this ball of clutter that doesn't make sense in our context.
Speaker 3:So I know we often talk about, you know, there's tons of initiatives that come through and so often we think of that kind of phrase, initiative fatigue which we have all felt because you know we've experienced all these changes all the time, like especially education has, you know, kind of like almost like a two year cycle with some things right, whether it's updating curriculum materials or new pilot programs for technology or you know whatever. But there can be some element of excitement in that, and I think it's important for us to recognize that. It's okay to get excited about a new initiative we want to try or we've learned about, and so can we maybe use that excitement as a way to help us streamline or declutter what's coming at us. I don't know, what do you think about that? Have you felt that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it's. I think you brought up a lot of really interesting points there. The idea of new initiatives coming like every two years is actually crazy. Very true, I've seen that over and over again 100%. But it's crazy when you think about it and anytime you read anything about successful change management. I don't think any expert would be recommending that we, you know, take on a new math program every two years or take on a new literacy approach every two years. Because you know, take on a new math program every two years or take on a new literacy approach every two years because you know, if you really think about it carefully, you need, you know, at least the first year to wrap your head around what it's trying to do. What are the nuances, how does this fit with me and my program and my community? And then you need time after that to actually get comfortable with it, get proficient with it, maybe modify it for your context and so on. So the idea of doing that every two years is really it is baffling, but I know it does happen for sure.
Speaker 2:Also, thinking about, yeah, that excitement versus fatigue, I know within my own career I think I was always one of those early adopter people like getting really excited and like, yeah, let's go, let's do this new approach, this new plan. And I think some of that fatigue has actually set in over the years of teaching because you keep, it just keeps happening to you over and over again. Right, oh, another new thing. Oh, another new thing. Oh, another new thing. And wait, this feels very similar to one we've done before, but now it has a new name. And so I think over the course of a career, you can move from that fatigue to excitement, or excitement to fatigue as well, just through the. You know the ongoing interaction with these different initiatives that come at you yeah, I think so, and we know that it takes.
Speaker 3:you know there's lots of research behind. You need three to five years if you're trying to implement change, and so if you're trying to bring in a worthwhile initiative, you need the time, like you said, that first couple of years. You know it's getting to know, and then how does it fit in your context? And then you need to collect some data to see if it actually works, to see if it actually works Exactly, exactly. So you know, I remember we had a two-year pilot when I was at my school in New York and it was on a couple of technology programs.
Speaker 3:You know it was fairly new idea when schools were getting one-to-one devices and I guess in that time, for what it was, you could collect enough data in that couple of years. But at the same time you don't get to see the growth of students for that long, right, cause it's only it. For us it was like grades three and four. And then what you know, like what do we do? So now that data is not usable anymore, we don't use that anymore, like we want to see continued change or growth, or, you know, or does this work or not. You know you need longer than that to figure that out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, how do you know that your context needs a new initiative or a new program after that short amount of time? Like you, haven't really had enough time to see from the data whether it is effective or not. It's a very good point.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I think that's where a lot of that fatigue comes in, right, so we can start out super excited about something and then it becomes part of your routine and you're like, okay, well, we're done, we're not doing that anymore. And then you're like deflated because you invested your time in it, and then you're just done with it. So you're almost like why did we do that? What was the point? Which, I mean, is a lot of what we talk about. What's the purpose behind something? And especially if it seems to be going well, it's become part of the routine. You're getting some interesting data. Then why would you discontinue something that's providing some value? And then you know versus like, oh, here's another one, we're going to try. This might be better. Can we hold off? Yeah for sure. So yeah, it's the shiny object situation, right? I think.
Speaker 2:I think there is a little bit of that coming in for sure, absolutely, yeah, yeah I'm wondering we shouldn't let that fatigue.
Speaker 2:You know, if there is something really fantastic coming out, that is an area that you're enthusiastic and passionate about, that has some good research backing behind it, we shouldn't let that fatigue take away that excitement we should still be like let ourselves have that enjoyment of what we're passionate about for sure yeah, I agree, and I think, think like some of the things that I've seen recently that are, I don't want to say coming out, but because I think they've already kind of been in the scene.
Speaker 3:But I think it's sometimes the way we think about something.
Speaker 3:So maybe it's not necessarily this new initiative, but it's a way of thinking about something or a framework we can use so you hear those words a lot right To help us kind of rethink what an initiative might be, particularly when we're looking at things like SEL, maybe because we know that's just something, that that's SEL is life. So we just should be doing that all the time. And I know some schools need to have some kind of program to help them move along with that, which is fine. But I think when we have some initiatives that feel like natural, natural fits, you know it doesn't feel like it's an exhausting thing. And I think that's when the self-selected versus mandated is really valuable, because you really do then get to have a say. Oftentimes teachers will you know they'll get a form or something to give some feedback on new programs or new ideas for what they want to bring into the school, and so that can just have such a greater value when you get to have, you get to choose. Yeah absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it is unavoidable that we will come across some mandated initiatives. I think you know, no matter where you work in the world or what kind of education system you're in, at some point you will come across something that's mandated. That you don't have a lot of choice in, for sure. But there's a lot. There's a lot still that you can do within that mandated initiative. For sure, yeah, but if you are in a place where you have the ability to self-select some, that is freeing it's, it creates, you know, a feeling of autonomy and self-efficacy and things like that. But you can also be a little bit scary too, because there is a lot out there and how do you know you're choosing the best version of what is out, right? Yeah. So I think both, whether it's mandated or self-selected, I think there are pros and cons for both, for both different types of initiatives, for sure yeah, because we know that, uh, decision fatigue is a real thing too, right.
Speaker 3:So sometimes it's like just tell us what to do, just give us the thing, and versus right, versus like, oh man, we have to go through this. We got to do our research now because this is the thing that we're trying to find to match our school, which, you know, either way it's still, it's still a lot of work. So, can we think of some good tips? Or what tips do we have that might be from our book? Maybe not, because we do have a decision-making tree there about adoption, and we have our funnels, which you know, our triple P funnels, which are, you know, looking at the purpose of something. What are the priorities within it? How do we pare it down?
Speaker 3:So if you are faced with, let's say, you know, at this time of the year, you've got a new state initiative maybe, and you have a something that you're looking for in terms of I can't even think of a self-selected school-wide initiative. I can think of a lot of classroom ones, because that's there, those are different too, right. So you really have to look at, kind of, the scope of your initiatives as well, but I guess, whether it's in your classroom. So if you're choosing some kind of system for your classroom or a system for your school, there's definitely some things to think about. We have mentioned.
Speaker 3:You know what best fits your context. So you have to look at your school demographics and the culture you have created with your community to ensure that, whatever you choose. So I mean you and I don't often promote like behavior programs, but that's what's coming to mind, right Because schools do use like PBIS or I guess, like something like character building, like character strong or you know there's those kinds of programs as well which isn't a behavior program, but you know it's something that people use and has some value to it. Does that fit your school context? Is that what you're looking for, right? Is that what your school needs, versus like do you need something more academic, or do you need something for extracurriculars? Or you know there's just so many buckets that you can be looking at for your school. So you really have to look at the context.
Speaker 2:Other thoughts there I think another big one to consider is your school strategic plan as well, because if you have got, you know, a mission of your school, a five-year plan for your school, and then this initiative doesn't align with any of that, you're going to have a really hard time A finding time for it in all of the things that are in your plan and your mission, but also just getting the motivation and buy-in for yourself and for others if it just seems like this added on thing. So I think we always need to be going back to that big purpose question and looking at things like our school mission and vision and values and and what you, what your plan is in whatever time frame that your school has outlined that in.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's so important. Also, if you're facing a mandated initiative, what are the parts within that that already align to what you're doing at your school? So, anytime that you can streamline something, right, so like kind of really pick apart what your initiatives are and what aligns well, and you know, if you don't have to introduce something new, then don't just build it into what you already do. And I'm just trying to think of an example.
Speaker 3:One big initiative that is coming up in different states is cell phone use for students in classrooms, and so I think there's a couple of schools of thought on this, right, I've seen some like Instagram reels of people talking about it, and one thought is you know, the kids just don't bring their phones to school, and if they're brought to school, they are held for parents to come and pick them up. Now, if this policy isn't one that aligns with what you've been doing at your school, right? So let's say, your school already has a cell phone policy and it's working well, like, let's say, kids are allowed to keep it in their backpack, so they just have to put it in a bucket, but you know it's been working. But you know it's been working, how do you align with a larger scale mandate like that, where now it's like the complete opposite end right, like you can't bring your phone to school kind of situation. That might be a tricky one, right?
Speaker 2:I think it relates back to what you were saying earlier about leadership's role with all of this, because I think in a way, they're gatekeeping how we respond and react to the initiatives and they really set the tone as well. So if the leadership is taking the approach of like you're doing this, you're doing it today, you have no choice, you're doing it today, you have no choice, you're doing it from front cover to back cover, that's it, no questions asked. Versus let's look at this together, let's tackle it together, let's pull out what we like, what's going to work for our context, what matches our school plan, the needs of our community and, you know, see what we can, you know, leave behind a little bit maybe and other ones that need to be at the forefront and the priority within this initiative. I think those two sorts of pathways and how you bring in this mandated initiative are going to have very, very different reactions from your community as a whole.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I agree with you, the approach always matters, right, it doesn't even matter what it is, and so if your context already has something figured out that works, then that second approach where you know we're going to look at this together to see how it aligns with what we do already feels safer more. It feels like you're you. There's a little bit more respect there, right for you to be able to make the decisions at your school um, versus like you as an expert, to make some good judgments.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, right lately yeah, and I think that one of the biggest struggles with cell phones, you know it's just, it's so different in every school, the thought behind that. But I had a conversation this summer with someone about not banning cell phones in classrooms because it does take away someone's autonomy, right, like it takes away someone's agency. To like, if you are in English class and you need to find a quote for something, you can just like find one on your phone real quick. But again it's like setting the parameters Right, find one on your phone real quick, but again it's like setting the parameters right, let's it's. It's sometimes about like co-creating what the expectation is, and maybe that's the important part with the initiatives too. Like, how do you co-create what this looks like in your school or in your classroom so that it's we're meeting the expectations of the mandate or the initiative, whatever? However you want to look at it, I think we're getting into some really muddy waters around trying to declutter initiatives I know we're not possibly not making it clearer for anyone.
Speaker 3:But I mean it's a good conversation to have, because this is how complicated it is often at schools, and so I think, as well as collective groups, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I mean what we're saying really is how do you fit something that's introduced to you into what you're already doing, right?
Speaker 2:How can you streamline, how can you take the pieces that best fit your context and do that collaboratively, so that voices are heard For sure, absolutely, and I think that piece that we were talking about, of thinking about the purpose behind it, and then how are we rolling this out, how are we introducing it and how are we making it come alive in our context. I think that is a really good anchor point for you to keep coming back to.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:As these things are coming your way yeah.
Speaker 3:So I think for yeah, that's kind of the pare down pointer right, like you just kind of pinpointing, I guess, within those initiatives, like really find the links to your context.
Speaker 2:That's it. What is going to benefit your community the most from this? What are the real strengths within this? New initiative that you can highlight, yeah, yeah, in your community for sure. New initiative that you can highlight, yeah, yeah, in your community for sure? I think it's important too, when we're talking about this topic is to think about that idea of building our individual capacity, because I think you could easily fall into this path of I have no capacity here, I have no voice here, this is just being done to me and I have no say in this whole situation. And we do talk about it within the book, within the chapter, but I think it's worth mentioning here as well about how we can build our capacity within our educational context, so that you don't feel like you were just at the mercy of the shifting sands beneath our feet yeah, exactly so what are some of the ways that individual teachers can build their own capacity?
Speaker 3:Probably one of the most important things would be to pay attention to what's coming your way right, get as much knowledge as you can about the initiative and the way that it will potentially impact your school and then also your classroom as an individual unit within the school, Because I do think that you know the more you know, the better off you're going to be, and then that also helps you support your colleagues as well. So, just kind of you know, doing thinking collaboratively, get with people to talk about it, figure out what's going to work best for your context and, yeah, just getting to know it as well as you can ask questions too and because you know that you're going to have a part to play in that initiative. So you've got to figure out what that is as soon as possible. I think that's a big piece.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think the discussion point is so important to keep encouraging yourself to have conversations with people, whether it's your fellow teachers, whether it's the parent community, whether it's the people above you in the hierarchy of your context, is to not shy away from, as you say, asking the questions and having the conversations about it, so that, yeah, you're keeping yourself informed about what's going on, but maybe also having a discourse about, well, what is the purpose behind this? What are the threads here that are the most important parts that I need to make sure that I'm doing justice with, and have you thought about X, y and Z and these other possibilities as well?
Speaker 2:I think, yeah, having those conversations, those professional conversations, are key to keep building your capacity as someone who has a voice in these situations.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I agree, I think those are probably the two biggest pieces for that. Yeah, there's just so many things that we can talk about with this, because you just mentioned that discourse and it made me think of something else we talked about.
Speaker 2:But I'm gonna stop there because we can keep going we could keep going, but yeah, yeah, as you say it is, it can get. It can get very muddy and it can get very emotional for people as well, because they're experiencing this. So, hopefully we haven't made the waters more muddy and we have actually shined a light on a few things that might be helpful for you when you're considering all the different initiatives that are coming your way.
Speaker 3:Yes, thank you for listening, and if you have questions, you can always send us a comment about things like this as well, because you know we're open to more discussion about all of the ideas that we have on our shows. So thank you for listening.
Speaker 2:This episode is sponsored by Plan Z Education Services, supporting educators with forward-thinking professional learning that puts both student impact and teacher wellness at the center. Driven by a vision to teach less, impact more, they help educators find purpose, prioritize what matters and simplify their practice. Learn more at planzeducationcom.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Minimalist Educator Podcast, their practice. Learn more at plansieducationcom. If today's episode helped you rethink, reimagine, reduce or realign something in your practice, share it in a comment or with a colleague. For resources and updates, visit planzeducationcom and subscribe to receive weekly emails. Until next time, keep it simple and stay intentional, thank you.
