I felt a wave of nerves as the professor stated it was time to reveal the Workplace Lab teams. As a first year student in the Doctor of Education Leadership (Ed.L.D.) program at HGSE, I had heard about Workplace Lab, what some community members described as a “container for learning.” The teams were purposefully designed to be diverse, taking into account a variety of factors. However, we had no input into the process of creating the teams, and as I looked around at the other 24 amazingly talented Cohort 8 members, I wondered with anticipation who I would spend the next 9 months working closely with on a variety of projects. Would we be able to create high-quality work products together? Would we get along? How would we design the team to ensure everyone feels like a contributing member?
Ed.L.D offers an array of learning experiences across the three years of the program, but none compare to Workplace Lab, a learning experience designed to challenge our thinking, apply our learning, and collaborate in same team of 5 members for the entirety of Year 1. Professor Deborah Jewell-Sherman, or as she prefers DJS, collaborates with school districts, both local and nationally, so that these districts offer their current Problems of Practice as learning experience for Workplace Lab teams. The teams then research these Problems of Practice, gather evidence, and present their findings and recommendations to stakeholders of the district.
After our first project together, I realized that Insight, my Workplace Lab team, would indeed be a container for my learning in Year 1 of Ed.L.D. We worked to strike a balance between high-quality work and our team process, between building strong relationships and challenging each other with growth feedback. Over the course of our four projects together, I grew proud of the work we presented and the team we built together. Insight became a place for me to try on new leadership personas, challenge my assumptions about teaming, and give and receive support throughout the challenges and successes of Year 1.
Now that we’ve moved into Year 2 of Ed.L.D, my team still finds time to catch up and support one another, even though we no longer officially “work” together. Group text chats are filled with messages of supports, musings about our upcoming Residency assignments, and inside jokes that still make us giggle. Additionally, we find time to have dinner together, giving us that face-to-face time that we all crave so dearly yet have a hard time making space for given our often competing schedules. Insight’s team mission, developed back in September 2017, still rings true for me as I continue on my learning journey here at HGSE: “We will meet you where you are and take you to the next level.”
Blog written by David Baiz. Photo provided by David Baiz.
David Baiz grew up in rural Ohio, learned from his family and teachers how quality education opens doors to rich life experiences and upward economic mobility. The first of his family to graduate college, David moved to New York City to become a math teacher and discovered his love of service through education. As a founding teacher and eventual principal of Global Tech Prep Middle School in East Harlem, NY, David worked alongside a small team of talented educators who built, from the ground up, a school culture focused on high expectations for all students and social-emotional supports to help students uncover their own strengths as learners. After more than a decade of experience in public education, David believes talent and leadership, both in children and adults, are not innate qualities, but cultivated through supportive, feedback-driven environments where all members feel empowered to take risks and learn from mistakes.
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