Rocking the Boat: Tempered Radicals
Task zero: Skim and Review assignment
Task Zero: Write a short review of 350-500 words as a response to the book. This review should reflect a general understanding of what the book is about and what you understand?
Meyerson’s book Rocking The Boat is a worthy reference book for managers and those who want to initiate change in the organizations. Introducing change in organizations is possible at various levels and through various measures but initiators need to look into the pros and cons of the situation and also take care of leverages being brought forward In this book “Rocking the boat” author Debra E. Meyerson defines and describes who tempered radicals are, what they do and what challenge they face and what difference they make in their organizations and personal lives.
This book was written after in depth research done which lasted 15-20 years and based on interviews done with different professional across wide range of professions and institutions.
Author researched and interviewed employees which worked in three global corporations where cultures were in sharp contrast to each other. But struggles and responses of tempered radicals were comparable
Author defines tempered radical in very lucid language. According to author, “tempered radicals are the people who want to become valued and successful members of their organizations without "selling out" the personal values that make them who they are”.
Meyerson has used beautiful quotes in the starting of each chapter which are apt to the context and add more meaning to the content (chapter-four the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands during challenge and controversy. – Martin Luther King, Jr.)
In this book author explores how everyday leaders (She calls them tempered radicals) find innovative ways to promote positive changes within structures of their organizations without rocking the boat so hard they fall off. This book presents many and various stories about how ordinary people at different levels within their field have been successful while promoting their values and ideas of change.
In this book, author researched three global corporations, each very different but with very similar goals, and pinpointed eight people who best represented the issues she wanted to explore.
These people provide the structure on which she explores how they implement change based on strong values and identities while staying true to the parts of themselves that are at odds with the majority.
The first part of her book introduces the tempered radicals whom she follows throughout the book, exploring their motivations, tensions and coping strategies.
The second part of her book takes the reader into the deeper realms of their strategies for change and protest, and the last part focuses on the struggles faced by tempered radicals while they challenge others, and the conditions they confront within their organizations. She concludes her book with a chapter that summarizes the implications of the actions taken by tempered radicals within their organizations and shows how these acts represent an important, and often overlooked, style of leadership.
Characters in the book:
Meyerson's book (using pseudonyms) introduces the reader to a number of compelling characters who have implemented change in their organizations in quiet, sometimes mundane, but determined ways. They include:
Rocking the boat: How am I different?
Task One: In her book, Debra Meyerson identifies three ways you can be different. How far do one or more of these apply to you? Is there something missing in her framework that you bring in? Write a response addressing these questions in 350 to 500 words.
I feel that working in any system is complicated, especially one that has been as well-established as the public education system. I started working in Chicago public school system in June 2001 and was placed in schools where dominant population and culture was very different of mine.
My first teaching assignment was in school which was 100 % of student populations were Afro-American and none of adults in the building was Asian (or from India).
I felt “being the only one” .I had to work hard to be accepted and respected by students, who came from fragmented families and had hard time respecting each other and other adults in building.
In that school it was top down approach and teachers had no say in day to day decision making related to instructional strategies, curriculum, learning process, behavioral problems of students etc.
All meetings in school were run by few people on top and teachers were just passive listeners and did not take any risk of suggesting something different which could help both teachers and students. After working in that school for one semester and getting to know many colleagues, I felt that teachers were putting up with so much indiscipline and misbehaviors in classroom as there were system of dealing with those issues during school instructional time.
Teachers were blamed for not managing student behavior in class (though same behaviors were very much prevalent in hall ways and in school grounds) and it was very difficult for teachers to teach and help students who were there for learning. With the help of some of my colleagues, I took the courage to start in-school suspension system for students who were severely disruptive in class and prevented smooth functioning of learning process.
I gave up my lunch time to teach in in-school suspension room and some of my colleagues gave up theirs to start a system which benefited many teachers in class rooms and students.
I liked the book “Rocking the boat “.I think Ms. Debra Meyerson did a great research and took interviews of tempered radicals before writing this book.
But I feel that not many inner public school teachers were interviewed who face many challenges which are not related to race, orientation or gender but of different kinds.
People working in inner public system are now very diverse in terms of ethnicities, cultures, race, sexual orientations but have been different challenges for many years like improving standardized assessment scores (given students in their classed are 3 to 4 grade level below), teacher evaluation system which has plethora of rubrics and attributes which can be interpreted in so many ways.
Rocking the Boat in four stages: Becoming a Tempered Radical
Task 2: Where do you see yourself lying on the continuum (see page 8)? Where do you aim to be on this continuum? What goals do you see yourself setting to move forward? What are some lessons you take from the stories in this book that would apply to you?
After reading “Rocking the boat”, I feel that that I am one of those who believe in organizing collective action. Given so many changes have occurred in technology, standards, assessments and requirements in employability skills ,I believe challenges ahead for teachers, students , parents, administrators and all other stakeholders can only be met by organizing collective action and supporting each other.
I have set up many goals for myself .It is my responsibility to be ready and prepare for challenges after rollout of common core standards, and changes in benchmark / summative assessments .I have already started on designing and creating plans, activities, questioning/discussion techniques, tasks (with rubrics), incorporating appropriate educational technologies to enhance my instruction methods and share with my colleagues. I have already started to organize math department teachers to take collective actions and rise up to challenges of changes in standards, assessments and evaluation process of both teachers and students.
According to author Ms. Debra Meyerson , “resistance can take many forms and enable people to act on their values , beliefs, and identities and defend against the forces in the system that tend to render those parts marginal”.
I believe I am one of those tempered radical educator on the inside who tries to make subtle changes every day. Whether it's the way I educate students (i.e. using appropriate educational technology, parent communication, grading, etc.) or by collaborating with fellow teachers and administrators to bring changes in our instructional practices, learning process in school and meet the demands of strict evaluations systems for school and teachers alike.
I liked the chapter 5 (Broadening the impact through negotiation) where author emphasize that it is important to step back , away from the heat, to identify what we really care about in a particular situation and in general, and how best to act on those desires. Without this knowledge impulses tend to take over.
I believe that as an educator I should always be aware of my strengths, educational credentials, my worth which would help be to identify alternatives and speak up and stand firm on my non-negotiable.
I have also learned from my personal experience which was reinforced in this book that there is big difference between caring about a job and being utterly dependent on it.
Given so many radical changes are occurring in the inner public school systems, I agree with the author and believe that joining forces and leading collective action can broaden and deepen the benefits of desired changes.
Rocking the boat: Facing Challenges
Task Three: Debra Meyerson talks about 4 levels of challenges. How do you see yourself dealing with some, if not all, of these challenges in your work situation? Write a response in 500 words.
"Tempered radicals are people who operate on the fault line. They are organizational insiders who contribute and succeed in their jobs. At the same time, they are treated as outsiders because they represent ideals or agendas that are somehow at odds with the dominant culture"(2003. Meyerson. P.5).
I find there are many challenges facing inner public school systems. I have been working in inner public school system for last 14 years and have faced many challenges and responded to the best of my abilities.
I see that there are many educators in public school system who are happy following the same plan and instructional strategies and methods for years and don’t feel challenged with change in student populations, their learning styles and coming from communities there are plethora of social –emotional issues.
I am not saying they are bad teachers or just refuse to change but they feel happy what they are doing. These educators still help students succeed and don't see the point in fighting everything happening top-down.
I also feel the challenge of teaching and supporting my students coming from families where education is not given priority and many students have parents who never finished the high school education.
Then there are high stakes standardized tests and performance tasks which are used as criterion to evaluate schools and teachers. I see that there is need to change to many things but given the political and social system change it’s not going to happen in present system.
I am constantly learning from different resources (Education institutions, webinars, professional developments, from my coworkers etc.) to enhance my teaching practices to support the learning process of my students and co -workers.
I have been working within the present system in order to change it and make it better for all students, not just those who do well on benchmark and standardized tests.
After reading book “Rocking the boat”, I feel that I am one of those tempered radicals in education system who has the perspective of being on the inside and knowing what needs to change to make things better.
As teacher and educator I also see the challenges being faced by teaching community. Our political system tends to blame everything on educators and our political leaders (due lack of knowledge/reluctance to admit, problems facing education system and its stake holders) see the need to change everything.
Our law makers want to slash and burn the present system and start a new one without specifying the results expectations from new system. They want to see sweeping changes in education and fail to understand why everyone else doesn't jump on their bandwagon to help them make the sweeping changes that they feel education desperately needs.
.
Task zero: Skim and Review assignment
Task Zero: Write a short review of 350-500 words as a response to the book. This review should reflect a general understanding of what the book is about and what you understand?
Meyerson’s book Rocking The Boat is a worthy reference book for managers and those who want to initiate change in the organizations. Introducing change in organizations is possible at various levels and through various measures but initiators need to look into the pros and cons of the situation and also take care of leverages being brought forward In this book “Rocking the boat” author Debra E. Meyerson defines and describes who tempered radicals are, what they do and what challenge they face and what difference they make in their organizations and personal lives.
This book was written after in depth research done which lasted 15-20 years and based on interviews done with different professional across wide range of professions and institutions.
Author researched and interviewed employees which worked in three global corporations where cultures were in sharp contrast to each other. But struggles and responses of tempered radicals were comparable
Author defines tempered radical in very lucid language. According to author, “tempered radicals are the people who want to become valued and successful members of their organizations without "selling out" the personal values that make them who they are”.
Meyerson has used beautiful quotes in the starting of each chapter which are apt to the context and add more meaning to the content (chapter-four the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands during challenge and controversy. – Martin Luther King, Jr.)
In this book author explores how everyday leaders (She calls them tempered radicals) find innovative ways to promote positive changes within structures of their organizations without rocking the boat so hard they fall off. This book presents many and various stories about how ordinary people at different levels within their field have been successful while promoting their values and ideas of change.
In this book, author researched three global corporations, each very different but with very similar goals, and pinpointed eight people who best represented the issues she wanted to explore.
These people provide the structure on which she explores how they implement change based on strong values and identities while staying true to the parts of themselves that are at odds with the majority.
The first part of her book introduces the tempered radicals whom she follows throughout the book, exploring their motivations, tensions and coping strategies.
The second part of her book takes the reader into the deeper realms of their strategies for change and protest, and the last part focuses on the struggles faced by tempered radicals while they challenge others, and the conditions they confront within their organizations. She concludes her book with a chapter that summarizes the implications of the actions taken by tempered radicals within their organizations and shows how these acts represent an important, and often overlooked, style of leadership.
Characters in the book:
Meyerson's book (using pseudonyms) introduces the reader to a number of compelling characters who have implemented change in their organizations in quiet, sometimes mundane, but determined ways. They include:
- Martha Wiley, who as a senior vice president in the real estate division of a large, international company, has been able to improve conditions for employees in her department by accommodating working parents and making her department more hospitable to women by quietly implementing flexible hours and work arrangements.
- Sheila Johnson, who as an African American vice president in the private equity division of an international corporation has worked to create a more diverse pool of job candidates by posting entry-level jobs throughout minority communities while keeping a low profile.
- John Ziwak, who as manager of business development at a hi-tech global corporation has challenged his bosses' expectations by choosing family obligations over company demands and establishing his personal values within a culture that often calls for employees to shirk parental responsibilities.
Rocking the boat: How am I different?
Task One: In her book, Debra Meyerson identifies three ways you can be different. How far do one or more of these apply to you? Is there something missing in her framework that you bring in? Write a response addressing these questions in 350 to 500 words.
I feel that working in any system is complicated, especially one that has been as well-established as the public education system. I started working in Chicago public school system in June 2001 and was placed in schools where dominant population and culture was very different of mine.
My first teaching assignment was in school which was 100 % of student populations were Afro-American and none of adults in the building was Asian (or from India).
I felt “being the only one” .I had to work hard to be accepted and respected by students, who came from fragmented families and had hard time respecting each other and other adults in building.
In that school it was top down approach and teachers had no say in day to day decision making related to instructional strategies, curriculum, learning process, behavioral problems of students etc.
All meetings in school were run by few people on top and teachers were just passive listeners and did not take any risk of suggesting something different which could help both teachers and students. After working in that school for one semester and getting to know many colleagues, I felt that teachers were putting up with so much indiscipline and misbehaviors in classroom as there were system of dealing with those issues during school instructional time.
Teachers were blamed for not managing student behavior in class (though same behaviors were very much prevalent in hall ways and in school grounds) and it was very difficult for teachers to teach and help students who were there for learning. With the help of some of my colleagues, I took the courage to start in-school suspension system for students who were severely disruptive in class and prevented smooth functioning of learning process.
I gave up my lunch time to teach in in-school suspension room and some of my colleagues gave up theirs to start a system which benefited many teachers in class rooms and students.
I liked the book “Rocking the boat “.I think Ms. Debra Meyerson did a great research and took interviews of tempered radicals before writing this book.
But I feel that not many inner public school teachers were interviewed who face many challenges which are not related to race, orientation or gender but of different kinds.
People working in inner public system are now very diverse in terms of ethnicities, cultures, race, sexual orientations but have been different challenges for many years like improving standardized assessment scores (given students in their classed are 3 to 4 grade level below), teacher evaluation system which has plethora of rubrics and attributes which can be interpreted in so many ways.
Rocking the Boat in four stages: Becoming a Tempered Radical
Task 2: Where do you see yourself lying on the continuum (see page 8)? Where do you aim to be on this continuum? What goals do you see yourself setting to move forward? What are some lessons you take from the stories in this book that would apply to you?
After reading “Rocking the boat”, I feel that that I am one of those who believe in organizing collective action. Given so many changes have occurred in technology, standards, assessments and requirements in employability skills ,I believe challenges ahead for teachers, students , parents, administrators and all other stakeholders can only be met by organizing collective action and supporting each other.
I have set up many goals for myself .It is my responsibility to be ready and prepare for challenges after rollout of common core standards, and changes in benchmark / summative assessments .I have already started on designing and creating plans, activities, questioning/discussion techniques, tasks (with rubrics), incorporating appropriate educational technologies to enhance my instruction methods and share with my colleagues. I have already started to organize math department teachers to take collective actions and rise up to challenges of changes in standards, assessments and evaluation process of both teachers and students.
According to author Ms. Debra Meyerson , “resistance can take many forms and enable people to act on their values , beliefs, and identities and defend against the forces in the system that tend to render those parts marginal”.
I believe I am one of those tempered radical educator on the inside who tries to make subtle changes every day. Whether it's the way I educate students (i.e. using appropriate educational technology, parent communication, grading, etc.) or by collaborating with fellow teachers and administrators to bring changes in our instructional practices, learning process in school and meet the demands of strict evaluations systems for school and teachers alike.
I liked the chapter 5 (Broadening the impact through negotiation) where author emphasize that it is important to step back , away from the heat, to identify what we really care about in a particular situation and in general, and how best to act on those desires. Without this knowledge impulses tend to take over.
I believe that as an educator I should always be aware of my strengths, educational credentials, my worth which would help be to identify alternatives and speak up and stand firm on my non-negotiable.
I have also learned from my personal experience which was reinforced in this book that there is big difference between caring about a job and being utterly dependent on it.
Given so many radical changes are occurring in the inner public school systems, I agree with the author and believe that joining forces and leading collective action can broaden and deepen the benefits of desired changes.
Rocking the boat: Facing Challenges
Task Three: Debra Meyerson talks about 4 levels of challenges. How do you see yourself dealing with some, if not all, of these challenges in your work situation? Write a response in 500 words.
"Tempered radicals are people who operate on the fault line. They are organizational insiders who contribute and succeed in their jobs. At the same time, they are treated as outsiders because they represent ideals or agendas that are somehow at odds with the dominant culture"(2003. Meyerson. P.5).
I find there are many challenges facing inner public school systems. I have been working in inner public school system for last 14 years and have faced many challenges and responded to the best of my abilities.
I see that there are many educators in public school system who are happy following the same plan and instructional strategies and methods for years and don’t feel challenged with change in student populations, their learning styles and coming from communities there are plethora of social –emotional issues.
I am not saying they are bad teachers or just refuse to change but they feel happy what they are doing. These educators still help students succeed and don't see the point in fighting everything happening top-down.
I also feel the challenge of teaching and supporting my students coming from families where education is not given priority and many students have parents who never finished the high school education.
Then there are high stakes standardized tests and performance tasks which are used as criterion to evaluate schools and teachers. I see that there is need to change to many things but given the political and social system change it’s not going to happen in present system.
I am constantly learning from different resources (Education institutions, webinars, professional developments, from my coworkers etc.) to enhance my teaching practices to support the learning process of my students and co -workers.
I have been working within the present system in order to change it and make it better for all students, not just those who do well on benchmark and standardized tests.
After reading book “Rocking the boat”, I feel that I am one of those tempered radicals in education system who has the perspective of being on the inside and knowing what needs to change to make things better.
As teacher and educator I also see the challenges being faced by teaching community. Our political system tends to blame everything on educators and our political leaders (due lack of knowledge/reluctance to admit, problems facing education system and its stake holders) see the need to change everything.
Our law makers want to slash and burn the present system and start a new one without specifying the results expectations from new system. They want to see sweeping changes in education and fail to understand why everyone else doesn't jump on their bandwagon to help them make the sweeping changes that they feel education desperately needs.
.