Communication Leads to Community

Rollo May once said, “Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing.” How does your school leadership build the capacity to change, build the capacity to grow? Are there weekly learning communities where all e-learning stakeholders gather to communicate key processes, key learnings, key discussions about results? How do you determine successes and opportunities for improvement for students? For yourself? For your program? How do you communicate those? Is there shared decision making toward a shared vision for what e-learning looks like in your school?

Effective communication flow builds understanding, connection, collaboration, and value. The process begins with establishing a teaming structure to support e-learning in your building. Many DLAs and/or lab facilitators may see themselves functioning in a silo, or on the proverbial island, fighting the isolation of challenging the status quo, supporting students, connecting with parents, analyzing student enrollment and completion data, etc. What can you do? Ensure that you are connecting and collaborating weekly with a leadership team; establish a non-negotiable, uninterrupted time to discuss and do the work; by doing this, you are sending the message that student support is important and critical. Who is included in this strategic team? The Principal, the AP in charge of curriculum, a counselor, the Distance Learning Advisor, the lab facilitator, chair of the EC department, chair of the School Improvement Team, Instructional Technology specialist, and Testing Coordinator

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