HGSE Announces Including Ourselves in the Change Equation

The Harvard Graduate School of Education has announced a new online professional education program, Including Ourselves in the Change Equation: Personal Learning for Organizational Performance. The 12-week program employs the research-based Immunity to Change™ process to help professionals accomplish personal improvement goals that have eluded the smartest plans and best intentions. The program, which includes a live faculty member supporting participants throughout the experience, will be offered twice in the 2015–16 academic year, once beginning September 21, 2015, and again beginning February 8, 2016. Individuals and groups from K–12 and higher education are invited to participate in this program, especially faculty, administrators, school and district leaders, and higher education administrators, as well as individuals and groups from educational nonprofits, funding organizations, and nongovernmental organizations.

“We think this program may constitute a genuine breakthrough in personal learning for professional development and organizational enhancement,” said Professor Robert Kegan, program cochair. “Everyone knows it is impossible to accomplish significant organizational change without a certain amount of personal change, as well. But, until now, we have lacked a powerful method — rooted in theory and research — to get beyond good intentions and New Year’s resolutions. We look forward to joining every participant in the spirit of a pioneering partnership.”

Immunity to Change (ITC) — a learning process developed by Kegan and Lecturer Lisa Lahey, informed by 30 years of research on adult development and used in businesses throughout the world — offers an actionable model for transforming individuals and their organizations. The course, which includes metrics to assess progress at both the individual and collective levels (for those participating as part of a group), will help participants apply Kegan and Lahey's psychological theory about personal change to improvement goals of their own. The program encourages multiple participants from the same organization, and personal improvement goals tied to collective ones. 

Pre-course prep materials will help collective groups align individual and organizational goals. The sessions run over a 12-week period and require approximately four hours of work associated with reading, watching videos, short assessments, activities, and group discussions.

For additional information or to apply, visit http://www.gse.harvard.edu/ppe/program/including-ourselves-in-the-change-equation.