Clarify Impact: 3 Ways to Surface Stories that Matter and Catalyze Change
Stories are strong connecting forces for people who can learn from others’ lived experiences and understand what they could do next to either manage future challenges or foster greater future success.
For those like you who are especially invested in equity work in education systems, storytelling is a critical tool for representing the voices of those most overlooked and building momentum to disrupt inequity. You are able to call in educators, students, and other community members to support transformational work in schools through approaches of deep reflection, active listening, and thoughtful feedback.
To get started, make it clear to constituents what the greater vision is for school transformation. Here are three collaborative ways that teams can clarify impact and better surface stories that matter and catalyze change.
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Effort/Impact grid exercise
Write each change idea that your team tested on a Post-It note. Reflect on the level of impact and level of effort required for each.
How easy was it to implement? (Effort)
Did the change contribute to equitable outcomes? (Impact)
Ask team members to place the change efforts into an impact grid accordingly where the horizontal/x-axis represents Effort from low to high and the vertical/y-axis represents Impact from low to high.
That makes the quadrants the following:
Top left - High impact, Low effort (best case scenario)
Top right - High impact, High effort (okay scenario, could be better)
Bottom right - Low impact, High effort (okay scenario, could be better)
Bottom left - Low impact, Low effort (least desirable scenario)
Celebrate your successes and reflect on which efforts are worth expanding for the coming year. Then identify any shifts that might make other change ideas more impactful or less effortful. Close by summarizing the lessons that everyone learned.
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Impact statements formation
Impact statements (sample protocol) help team members draw connections between their actions, the immediate impact of their actions, and the resulting outcomes for students. Impact statements can be helpful to learn from changes that succeeded as well as from efforts that did not go as planned.
Key mindsets to hold while doing this exercise:
Results orientation: Keep a clear vision for student success at the center of your work. Use outcomes to guide decisions, priorities, and resource allocation. Help others to form the habit of collecting data that informs adjustments needed to reach the end-goal.
Courage: Demonstrate the courage to do what is right by kids; be unafraid to challenge the status quo when something is not working; and develop support systems to keep moving forward when faced with challenges and setbacks.
Learning orientation: Acknowledge that we do not have all the answers by actively listening to your community, seeking out new ideas and learning opportunities, encouraging diverse perspectives, and actively soliciting feedback.
After some time for deep reflection where the group thinks about what everyone set out to accomplish and the results, each participant drafts their impact statement(s) on Post-It notes. They can be bright spots and/or short-circuits.
Bright spots: Identify actions that contributed to improved outcomes for Black and Brown students or shifts in adult practice that will lead to improved outcomes. Note whether the results confirmed your predictions or if there were surprises in the data. Example statement template:
“Because we [inputs], we saw [change in adult practice] which contributed to [exciting outcomes for Black and Brown students].”
Short-circuits: Identify the attempted actions that may not have had the desired effect. Name the predictions that either did or did not come to fruition. Example statement templates:
“Because we didn’t [potential inputs], teachers/leaders didn’t [area of adult practice where we didn’t see change], which contributed to [disappointing results for students furthest from success].”
“We [inputs] which we thought would lead to [expected outcomes for adult capacity OR Black and Brown students]. However, [actual changes in adult practice and student experience/achievement]. Some potential root causes include [potential explanations].”
Then the group reads all the statements, identifies overarching themes, and reflects on what changes should be made for future work.
Photo of women seated around several round tables. A woman in a white long-sleeve top is actively speaking with a microphone in hand while gesturing with the free hand. In the background is a wall with photos and notes affixed. | Photo by Wonderlane on Unsplash.
Success analysis protocol
A success analysis protocol is designed to enable participants to identify specific actions, behaviors, and conditions that contributed to a particular success. It creates an opportunity for others to offer insights and feedback on that success. This can be done with students, teacher teams, or an entire school staff.
A facilitator would guide participants through the process and cultivate conversation. Here are the recommended steps for an effective success analysis protocol:
Divide the whole group into small teams. You could decide to do this according to roles, project teams, or another factor that would best encourage collaboration and input.
Have teams discuss and then write a short description of the one ”Best Practice” they adopted. Include why it was so successful and what made it different from other practices.
Have one of the team members report on the practice and explain in detail why it worked well.
Other teams ask clarifying questions about the practice.
The entire exercise group analyzes what was heard and offers additional insights about how it differed from other team practices. Questions are encouraged and should be probing, open-ended, and respectful. The presenting group can respond to these discussions.
The remaining teams go through the same process until all teams have finished presenting.
The entire exercise group debriefs the protocol and reflects on what went well, how they might apply what was learned, and how students could use a similar process for deeper reflection.
The success analysis protocol helps teams better tell impactful stories as they gather details during best practice analysis and apply successes to future work.
Graphic with title "Key ingredients to help you go deeper with your reflection and surface stories that matter most to your community" at top and a storybook graphic in the center that has rainbow, star, and circle icons. Arrows point out from the storybook to the tips, as noted in post, and the Partners in School Innovation logo sits at bottom.
Key ingredients to go deeper with reflection and storytelling
Now you have multiple activities to clarify impact while surfacing stories that matter most to your community. As you begin sharing the bigger picture through stories that have the potential to catalyze change, remember to
Carve out a dedicated time for reflection and discourse
Get clear on your purpose
Honor diverse perspectives
Practice deep listening
Involve those most impacted by inequity
Embrace failure as a path to learning
Make joy central!
Continue learning with these educator resources
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