Systems Thinking and How to Challenge Mental Models

With four decades of experience in educational leadership, Kathy Minardi will pursue a new venture in July of 2016, following her tenure at Aidan Montessori School. With the launch of Whole School Leadership, Kathy Minardi will consult on systems thinking, community building and peacemaking, and implementing the tools of emotional intelligence in school settings.

People who use systems thinking focus on understanding underlying structures in order to interpret data and act with meaningful and positive impact. In school settings, they look at the organic ways that people in the institution interact with each other in order to create effective results and to solve challenges.

A good place to begin when introducing systems thinking to students is to challenge their mental models, which are the preconceived assumptions that influence their perception. Simple requests, such as having students cross their arms in the opposite direction or walk upstairs beginning with the opposite leg, take them out of their comfort zones to analyze change from a new perspective. Physical activities work best for mental-model stimulation, because they engage multiple senses and encourages students to feel.

Building Emotional Intelligence for Kids

Kathy Minardi is a seasoned Montessori school leader with more than 40 years of experience. Specializing in consulting with schools in building healthy community through wholehearted leadership, Kathy Minardi will soon embark on a new professional venture through Whole School Leadership, LLC, a consulting firm that helps schools to build emotional intelligence in the lives of students and teachers.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to regulate emotions and manage behaviors, which impacts both short- and long-term well-being. People who are emotionally intelligent have an awareness of self and others, can manage their moods effectively, are self-motivated, demonstrate empathy, and handle their relationships well. Children develop emotional intelligence through experience; methods in education such as Montessori philosophy have been demonstrated to be effective in helping children to develop socially, cognitively, and emotionally.

To help children achieve this, parents and teachers can model emotional intelligence in their own lives. They acknowledge feelings as real, and talk about them. Sticking to firm and consistent boundaries helps children to feel safe. Remembering emotions are complex can be helpful, as more may be going on under the surface reaction. Adults can teach children healthy emotional habits, like going to a time-out space when coping with emotions gets to be too much.

The RULER Program at Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence

Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence WHEN IT BEGAN
Image: ei.yale.edu

 

Montessori educator Kathy Minardi is the founder of Whole School Leadership LLC, a consulting practice designed for schools and school leaders. Kathy Minardi —– completed the RULER program at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence WHEN IT BEGAN.

Dedicated to using emotions as a way to create a caring, effective society, the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence teaches individuals of all ages to improve their emotional intelligence. By teaching participants to Recognize, Understand, Label, Express, and Regulate (RULER) emotions, the center helps educators change their schools and districts in meaningful ways.

Participants in the RULER program begin by learning the fundamentals of emotional intelligence, a process that typically involves creating a healthy emotional climate and improving the ability to understand and regulate emotions. Phase 2 of the RULER program teaches educators how to incorporate emotional learning in all of their lessons. Once participants complete the program, they are well equipped to teach their students and other teachers about the importance of emotional intelligence.

An Introduction to Systems Thinking

 

Systems thinking

The founder of Whole School Leadership, LLC, Kathy Minardi spent nearly two decades as the head of a Montessori school. Kathy Minardi’s areas of interest include systems thinking.

Systems thinking refers to the practice of analyzing and understanding a subject according to its part in a broader structure and its connection with other components of that structure. This type of thinking manifests itself in common phrases such as “looking at the big picture.”

A flexible approach to problem solving, systems thinking leads to considering an issue in depth. Systems thinkers look at elements such as assumptions about a particular subject, its interdependence with other objects, and the consequences of certain actions that might be taken. They evaluate the importance of changed perspective and already existing mental models.

However, systems thinking goes even further. Originally coined by Barry Richmond in 1987, this term refers to an ability to uncover and examine the entire structure or system behind apparently random actions. Systems thinking can then lead to imitation of systems structure, an approach known as system dynamics.

Benefits of Creating Community in the School Setting

Education

 

An educator and school leader for 40 years, Kathy Minardi has presented numerous courses on whole school leadership and emotional intelligence development for children. Kathy Minardi recently launched a new consulting group, Whole School Leadership LLC, which she developed to support wholehearted leadership and community in education.

When educational leaders strive to have their schools function as communities, children thrive not only academically but also socially, emotionally, and ethically. Studies have shown that students from schools with strong community culture tend to show care toward others more frequently, demonstrate intrinsic motivation, and avoid destructive behavior. When encouraged to develop in the elementary school years, these skills persist through middle and secondary school.

Experts suggest that this connection between community and behavior stems from the human tendency of loyalty toward those situations that meet our most basic needs. A school that emphasizes community is one that encourages children and teachers alike to make others feel safe, welcome, and nurtured. Children thrive when they live so many hours of their lives in such a secure environment, which also encourages them to develop the pro-social habits that engender future interpersonal success.

Montessori’s Whole-School Management Course

Montessori
Image: montessori-namta.org

Since 1999, Kathy Minardi has served as the head of the Aidan Montessori School in Washington, DC. She is a member of the North American Montessori Teachers’ Association (NAMTA), which held its latest Montessori Whole-School Management course in October 2015. Kathy Minardi was one of the faculty presenters.

The multi-day course is focused on teaching educators to become effective Montessori administrators, and all of the concepts presented are based on NAMTA’s extensive research into school management. The first tier of the course is spent discussing Montessori principles. Participants come prepared with information about their school’s history, enrollment, and yearly budgets. They use this data to build a plan for improving upon their school’s weaknesses.

Since Montessori schools have grown in capacity and complexity during recent years, the second part of the course is centered on strategic planning. It is an advanced section for experienced administrators. There is a focus on developing long-term goals, effective collaboration with colleagues, and creating a system for tracking school progress.

Emotional Intelligence as a Teachable Skill

Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence
Image: ei.yale.edu

Kathy Minardi, a school leader for 40 years, has distinguished herself as an expert in community building and socio-emotional development within the educational setting. A certified trainer for RULER, an education framework from the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, Kathy Minardi is preparing to begin a full-time consulting practice to train educators in these areas.

Defined as having the skill to recognize, understand, label, express and regulate one’s own emotions, emotional intelligence requires both an understanding of and a literacy ability to describe feelings. Authorities have historically believed that such skills are innate or developed naturally through contact with others, but recent research and observational data suggest that they can and should be formally taught.

In one study, children who participated in a preschool social-emotional learning program presented with fewer aggressive behaviors and less internalized anxiety for up to two years after completing the program. Many authorities attribute such improvements to the role that emotional intelligence plays in preventing emotions from taking over and regulating behavior.

Children who receive formal emotional intelligence training learn instead to reflect on their emotions. They learn to develop management plans to handle intense feelings, while developing the skills to choose appropriate response behaviors. Though more research is necessary to track the effects of such educational initiatives, data and experience suggest that regular and continuing attention to emotional intelligence skills can help children to handle their own emotional realities and function better in community.

Brief Recap of NAMTA’s Montessori Whole-School Management Program

NAMTA
Image: montessori-namta.org

The head of Aidan Montessori School, Kathy Minardi possesses expertise in systems thinking. With an executive credential in transformational leadership from Georgetown University, Kathy Minardi leverages her knowledge to train other professionals on whole-school management through the North American Montessori Teachers Association (NAMTA).

In October of 2015, NAMTA hosted Montessori Whole-School Management: A Professional Development Course for Administrators. Attendees gathered at the Sheraton Columbia Town Center in Maryland for four days of education that enhanced leadership skills and encouraged innovation.

Administrators from one-classroom to multi-level schools participated in forums on universal stages of development, parent education programming, consensus approach versus central authority, and recruitment. Notable experts, such as Montessori consultant Peter Davidson and director of multiple non-profit Montessori management organizations David Kahn, shared their knowledge on the organic whole. Attendees engaged in discussions and problem-solving activities. In addition, they developed toolkits utilizing enrollment and budget data from their respective institutions.

NAMTA Holds Whole School Management Course in Maryland

An accomplished education leader with over four decades of experience, Kathy Minardi works as head of the Aidan Montessori School in Washington, DC. In addition to her activities at Aidan Montessori, Kathy Minardi frequently serves as a speaker for several organizations, including the North American Montessori Teachers’ Association (NAMTA). Recently, she presented at NAMTA’s Whole School Management course in Columbia, Maryland.

Held at the Sheraton Columbia Hotel from October 7-11, 2015, the Montessori Whole School Management course brought together Montessori-oriented administrators from across the country for five days of discussion and problem-solving activities focused on strategic planning management. The course featured educational offerings for novice and experienced Montessori school leaders as well as teachers just launching their administrative careers.

Attendees at all levels had the opportunity to hear from speakers who helped them develop their skills in several areas, including goal making, collaboration, and budgeting. Additionally, they were able to spend time with their peers creating individualized strategic plans based on several factors, such as their school’s history, enrollment, and budget.

A Brief Introduction to Bowen Family Systems Theory

For more than 15 years, Kathy Minardi has served as the head of Aidan Montessori School in Washington, DC. A skilled education leader, Kathy Minardi possesses an in-depth understanding of organizational behavior, emotional intelligence, and Bowen family systems theory.

Developed by Murray Bowen, Bowen family systems theory is a theory of human nature and relationships that views the family as a closely connected unit that is tied together not only physically but also behaviorally, mentally, and emotionally. Bowen believed that, because family units are so closely connected, individual problems are often rooted in the family emotional system and the mutigenerational trends that have shaped it. He felt that this is especially true of chronic anxiety, which he viewed as an inevitable part of being alive.

In addition to family units, Bowen’s theory applies to other social systems, including those found in schools and the workplace. Education leaders who understand the application of Bowen family systems theory in the school setting can help students reduce their anxiety, improve their self-management skills, and increase their resiliency, among other things.