Yesterday I learned about the “Sailboat Protocol” and want to write today about the protocol because it has so many potential uses: for coaching partnerships, teams, and student engagement and empowerment. Protocols are powerful because they provide structure, interdependence, and language to collaborative conversations. Structure frees up our energy and thinking so that we can hear all voices in the room and create transformational ideas together. The “Sailboat Protocol” is a useful way to address personalization and equity because it is a structured protocol and because of the steps that keep the focus on addressing barriers and moving towards our desired state.
My school district defines educational equity in this way:
“Each student has access to the resources and educational rigor they NEED, at the right moment in their education, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, ability, language, family background, or family income.” -VASD Educational Equity
In order to change our teaching practices to facilitate the learning that every student needs, we need tools to think differently about action steps. We also need to listen to student feedback and reflect on what their experience is throughout the day in our classrooms.
One way to reflect on teaching practices is the “Sailboat Protocol.” Note that this can also be used with students. Some versions of the protocol focus on the first four categories below, others include the fifth:
- Harbor: the desired state/objectives/goal
- Make sure you collaborate to develop a collective goal, then state the goal explicitly.
- Wind: things that move us toward the goal
- Anchors: things that slow the team/partnership/student down on the pursuit towards the goal
- Anchors are barriers that are in our control. This is where we can have the most impact, if we proactively plan for these and respond to them along the way.
- Icebergs: obstacles and risks that stop or slow work toward the goal
- Icebergs are outside of our control. If we spend time admiring these, we are wasting time toward the real work that we can control.
- Sunshine: celebration of accomplishments and small wins to build energy and momentum
- Celebrations and small steps model the importance of breaking large goals into manageable chunks. We achieve goals to a greater degree when we do so.
You can do a drawing with all the components included, brainstorm ideas on post it notes, and place them in the section of the drawing where they best fit. An alternative is to make a chart with the components:
After engaging in the protocol, a team can select one quick win or one priority action step. The planning for how to address the action can happen at the initial meeting or the next meeting. An advantage of quick wins is that they help us see the benefits of rapid cycles of improvement, and enable us to celebrate before moving onto the next action step towards our desired state/goal.
“We must remember that the only way to sail into the wind is to be ready to change tack. Successful sailors don’t hope that it won’t happen, but rather they know and embrace that it will and plan out the points at which they will change tack intentionally.” – Dana Britt
Resources:
Verona Area School District Educational Equity
4-Step Sailboat Retrospective for Smooth Sailing
Education Elements