Highlight Learning and Celebrate Successes: 6 Effective Ways to Surface Stories that Matter and Catalyze Change
Stories have a unique way of connecting people, revealing critical insights about life, helping others heal, and opening eyes to the lived experiences of those most overlooked or at the very least, different from the listener.
As you strive to forward the mission of school transformation work with a focus on equity, wield the power of storytelling in your approach and engage school leaders, educators, students, and other community members to strengthen the stories. They can unveil unknown challenges and broadcast lasting successes.
No matter the approach, you’ll find the greatest effectiveness when you highlight learning and celebrate success among your community of students, teachers, and parents. To help you along, here are six ways that you can bring forth these stories to catalyze change and sustainable school transformation.
Photo of golden-colored pendant necklaces in basic geometric shapes of rectangle, circle, and open triangle on a white background. | Photo by Angèle Kamp on Unsplash.
“Triangle, Square, Circle” reflection
Have participants draw a triangle, a square, and a circle with ample space to write in or under the shapes. Ask each person to respond to the following prompts:
Triangle: What three lessons am I taking away from this school year?
Square: How do these lessons square with my beliefs?
Circle: What questions are still circling my mind?
This is a simple reflection exercise that can help them make sense of their narratives for the year and consider what is needed to shape up the next year.
After action review
An after action review is a structured and systematic process for learning from past experiences. It typically involves bringing together key stakeholders to reflect on what happened, why it happened, and what can be learned from the experience.
An after action review is grounded in the following ground rules.
Ground rules
Active participation: it is important for everyone to participate
Everyone’s views have equal value
No blame
There are no right and wrong answers
Be open to new ideas
Be creative in proposing solutions to barriers
“Yes….and” rather than “either/or” thinking
Consensus where possible, clarification where not
Commitment to identifying opportunities for improvement and recommending possible improvement approaches
No record of the discussion will be distributed without the agreement of all participants
Quotes will not be attributed to individuals without permission
Participants work to answer the following four key questions about their school transformation work:
What was expected to happen?
What actually occurred?
What went well and why?
What can be improved and how?
Check out the Partners in School Innovation After Action Review Protocol template which you can use as is or customize for your context.
Photo of people’s hands on a table where a lot of papers and Post-It notes have been laid out. They are pointing at places on the table and placing notes with words like “Journey Map” on them. | Photo by UX Indonesia on Unsplash.
“Journey Map” exercise
Give individuals or teams time to make a visual representation of the school year mapping out key milestones. They can be obstacles faced, lessons learned, highlights, lowlights, and anything else that is important to the group as a whole. This exercise allows participants to get creative and highlight learning as a positive outcome.
Provide poster paper, markers, Post-It notes, etc., and encourage everyone to open up. You can extend the activity by having participants identify the next stages of the journey and future plan. This could look like identifying key milestones they want to reach in the following year and/or project cycle.
“Bright Spotting” activity
This activity is simple and quick to do but can have a long-lasting effect on participants. It’s all about celebrating wins together.
Cut out a bunch of circles from different bright-colored paper. Ask team members to brainstorm celebrations or successes from the whole year. Then write a “bright spot” thought on each colorful circle.
Post the bright spots on a wall to create a colorful, vibrant, physical display that celebrates the year. A bonus add-on activity to this is for participants to add additional appreciations and acknowledgements to the bright spots they see!
Photo of an outside wall covered in multicolored Post-It notes that have varying positive messages about love and hope. | Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash.
“Hopes Wall” creation
Have team members write down their hopes for the next school year on Post-It notes. They can include hopes for themselves, their school, and for their students.
Display the hopes in a visible place on poster paper, a whiteboard, or a bulletin board. Then do a gallery walk to build excitement for the year ahead and gather perspective on the stories that have affected people throughout the year.
This activity does not have to take place only on one day but can be a continuing practice that grows to include more people involved in your school transformation work.
Photo of three women standing next to each other outside and laughing with each other. The left side of the image shows a sun flare, giving the image a nostalgic effect. The women are wearing knit clothing. | Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash.
Celebration/Appreciation chain
For this activity, you will need a ball of string. Assemble your team in a circle. Hold onto the end of the string and toss the ball to another team member. Share something that you appreciate about them.
That person then holds onto the string as well and passes the ball to another team member. Continue until all team members have been appreciated and you have created an interconnected web.
This activity works well between peer educators, students, teachers and students, and other group types because it leans into relationship building and positivity. Hearing everyone’s praises for each other and why could spark several stories that make an impact.
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 highlight learning and celebrate successes as entries into surfacing stories that matter and catalyze change. As you embark on sharing these narratives, 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
Get the full “Stories that Catalyze Change” resource here. Find additional tools like it in our free-to-join Community where 575+ equity-focused leaders in education are sharing resources weekly.
Ready to dive even deeper? Enroll in our complimentary course “Using Stories to Drive Change”to learn how to craft stories that become powerful tools to showcase progress, spark change, and inspire action towards education reform.
