Dennis Sparks: 'You Are Surrounded By Wonderful Stories'

By Alyson Zepeda

	Thought Leader Dennis Sparks is emeritus executive director of the National Staff Development Council.

Dennis Sparks challenged a room full of leaders in education to say “I don’t know” more often, to keep a little white space in their calendar and to go to the edge of their comfort zone and keep walking.

In an AASA national conference Thought Leader session, Sparks, emeritus executive director of the National Staff Development Council, spoke Friday about the challenges and benefits of changing the culture in schools and presented his audience with suggestions for starting that change with their personal behavior.

“Culture either enables or disables a school’s ability to innovate,” Sparks said. He noted that the people within a culture don’t usually take notice of it. When they do notice, they have a tendency to believe that nothing can be done to change the status quo.

Sparks went on to explain that not only can a school’s culture change, but those changes can be powerful influences on the overall success of providing an excellent education for every child in every classroom. He said leaders play an extraordinary role in shaping culture, but that those changes must start with the leadership.

“If we wish our culture to be different, we change first,” Sparks said.

He pointed out that cultural shifts toward coherency, positive attitudes and teamwork can dramatically improve a school’s ability to accomplish its goals.

Sparks went on to point out behaviors that leaders could adopt in order to improve a school’s culture. Among many suggestions, he said leaders should be comfortable with not knowing all the answers.

In trying to convey their ideas, Sparks said leaders should let their passion show and try to speak to people’s hearts as well as their heads. He added that educators can find examples of success everywhere if they take the time to notice them.

Sparks said, “You are surrounded by wonderful stories and an incredible number of opportunities to share those stories.”

More information is available by reading Sparks’ blog at www.dennissparks.wordpress.com/.