Post-Mortems — Not Just for Doctors
The end of the school-year, or program-year, is monumental. I always love the smell of floor stripper & wax in a hot school building — it means summer is here. The energy and excitement is contagious, and when that final bell rings, everything changes for students and teachers. And we also know that a lot will be lost between June and August or September, again for students AND teachers.
At the end of my first year as a principal, I realized at the end of June I had made a huge mistake. I sent students and teachers off for a relaxing summer break, and didn’t do enough to have them reflect on the completed school-year. What’s more, I didn’t harness any of that (undone) reflection as a means for continuous improvement the following year. I resolved to plan differently into the future.
The strategy I have developed for these moments I refer to as a “post-mortem.” It is, admittedly, morbid. But it captures that something is done and gone, but that we have a duty to consider deeply what happened during and as a result of that thing, the school-year. A post-mortem is a gathering of leaders and stakeholders analyzing all forms of data, quantitative and qualitative. Academic outcomes, surveys, SEL or climate data, all of it should be gathered, disseminated, and reflected upon as soon as possible.
Post-mortems can be held at big concluding moments, like a school-year, or at smaller moments like at the end of a discreet project. Because of that variability, the facilitation will necessarily change. I always like to hold these meetings over more than one day to offer reflection spaces during and after each day. I also find that museums, libraries, and other community anchors are happy to host these meetings, often for free or low-cost.
The hallmarks for a post-mortem include:
All available data points, delivered BEFORE the meeting for stakeholder review
Analysis of outcomes by “pillar” (i.e. academics, culture, parent involvement)
Time for reflection during and after the meeting
Collective facilitation, so that leaders can participate and contribute
Now is the time to hold a post-mortem with your team. Do you want help planning and/or facilitating? Contact us!
This dinosaur costume became a legitimate attendance incentive as a result of a post-mortem reflection!
