In the strategic planning process, we have redefined the board members, faculty, staff, and parents who are present in this process as our “learners”. Whether we think about the process as a function of a traditional classroom learning environment or more like the work of professional development, we know that talk mediates almost any task. Talk, or discourse, is the way people negotiate meaning with one another.

If we consider the tasks outlined on the “task” framework page, we can begin to ask what that looks like in this strategic planning process through the lens of “talk”? Who is talking or not talking? What are they talking about? Are individuals communicating their thinking in other ways?

• Board members, parents, faculty, staff

• Moderator

• School’s mission

• Storytelling, roleplaying, prototyping

• Idea generating

• Sharing insights and perspectives

• Future oriented conversations

• Small group conversations, one on one conversations, whole group conversations

• “What if…” statements and questions

• Body language

As we think through the lens of talk in disrupting the habits of the strategic planning process, we have to remember that talk alone does not guarantee an effective process. In their thoughts on Professional Learning Communities, Coburn et al, share that “simply creating the position of a coach or pursuing the development of professional learning communities does not lead directly to quality opportunities for collaborative interaction”. They go on to highlight the difference between low depth and high depth conversations as a central facet of differentiating effective and less effective exchanges. The same sentiment can be applied towards talk in the strategic planning process. Ensuring, for example, that we are hearing from all voice in the room, not simply the loudest, is critically important.