Bring a diverse group of stakeholders together who will help design the future of teaching and learning

When planning for change, teams make sure that they have a diverse, inclusive group of stakeholders involved in the design process.

Perspectives on what teaching and learning should look like are informed by our individual identities and experiences. Bringing the right people together – with different roles, vantage points, priorities, and levels of positional power – for a design team will make you most effective in actually addressing the problems facing your district.

It’s good to include “usual suspects” in design teams – a Superintendent, Chief Academic Officer, or Director of Technology, etc. – because of the power they have to enact change. However, consider also involving people most impacted by teaching and learning, such as students, families, teachers, and classified staff. This is a valuable way to learn from those closest to the “day-to-day,” benefit from diverse ideas, and build a broader community of champions for this work. Diversity has been linked to enhanced team effectiveness and innovation, and it is especially important to ensure that those most impacted by your problem help to develop the solution.

Steps to Implementation

Suggested time: 2 hours

1. Review the spectrum of design power dynamics and select your district’s model for this particular design work (user-centered, co-designed, or user-created design).
2. Based on your decision, identify five to eight people to invite to your design team; consider the prompts below before deciding on your final list of invitees:
   1. Which stakeholder groups are not traditionally represented in our decision-making processes?
   2. Whose experiences are especially valuable for understanding the challenges our district faces and the change needed?
   3. Whose expertise is valuable for our design work? Consider expertise both inside the classroom with teaching and learning, and outside the classroom (e.g., facilitating, building relationships, managing resources).
   4. How diverse are the experiences, roles, and identities of the group members?
   5. Which 5-8 people will we invite to be part of the design team for this work?
3. Invite individuals to join the design team. Provide clarity on the goals of the process, your expectations for their involvement, and why their voice is important to the work.
4. Next, you will bring the group together to reflect on who is – and is not – part of the design team and what implications that has for the process you are starting.

This strategy is a part of TLA’s Real-Time Redesign release, a practical toolkit for improving equity and resiliency in schools. Explore the full guide to find additional strategies, insights, and resources.