Since November, we have shared stories of school teams who confronted Adaptive Challenges through the Baylor Center for School Leadership’s (BCSL) Catalytic Improvement Community process. Our previous features highlighted the transformative work at Robinson Elementary, Grace Prep, NorthStar Academy, and Trinity Christian School. Today, we present the work of Ben Dirksen and his team from Pella Christian School in Pella, IA.
If you’re facing an adaptive challenge and seeking meaningful change, we invite you to join Catalyze in July of 2025.
By: Ben Dirksen
We at Pella Christian School made a bold declaration in the summer of 2023: “We’re gonna try with a little help from our friends.” We borrowed a line from a classic Beatles song to find our courage, knowing it resonated with biblical wisdom. Solomon offers similar advice in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (The Message): “It’s better to have a partner than go it alone. Share the work, share the wealth. And if one falls down, the other helps, but if there’s no one to help, tough!”
Responding to the Invitation
With a song in our hearts and Solomon’s wisdom guiding us, we accepted the invitation to participate in Baylor Center for School Leadership’s Catalyze Improvement Community process (formerly the Just Schools Academy). Initially, we were uncertain about what we were getting into as being from Pella, Iowa, we were unfamiliar with the BCSL’s work—which, in retrospect, might have been advantageous.
The members of the BCSL team and new friends from other schools asked us to step into open and honest conversations, to take a hard look at our current reality as evidenced in our Collective Leadership Survey results (Figure 1). Had we known how challenging this work would be before we left, we may have said, “Thanks, but no thanks!”. However, after seeing the fruit that was born from our time there and continued good work when we returned, we are incredibly grateful that we said “yes” to the opportunity to partner with our friends at BCSL.
Beautifully Stretching Collaboration
The BCSL staff equipped our team of teachers, counselors, and administrators with robust data and structured protocols. Through this process, we identified an adaptive challenge facing Pella Christian and developed a strategic goal to address it effectively.
Figure 1: 2023 Collective Leadership Survey Results
Our data revealed clear opportunities for improvement, particularly in Work Design, which was rated at 2.13. Jon Eckert shared crucial wisdom about our organizational landscape, explaining that ineffective work design in schools threatens sustainability for both staff and students.
After hours of wrestling with this reality, we faced a critical decision: we could either engage in open, honest dialogue about our experiences or fearfully avoid our challenges. Fortunately, I work with remarkable colleagues who courageously chose transparency. Our conversations were simultaneously uncomfortable, exposing, emotional, hopeful, empathetic, and ultimately unifying. We rallied around each other and our school’s mission.
Our adaptive goal emerged from these discussions: “The people of Pella Christian would collectively own a culture of belonging and growth.”
To achieve this, we developed a strategic plan to implement peer observations as a way to create an internal support network for faculty members. We left our three days together feeling grateful for our BCSL partners who guided us toward hope, cohesion, and continued support.
Working the Plan, Seeing the Fruit
Over the next year, our team thoughtfully and courageously executed our peer observation plan. To assess our progress, we collected data by asking faculty four key questions at the beginning and end of the year:
- How much do you know about the instructional strategies your peers utilize?
- How much do you know about the assessment practices your peers utilize?
- How much do you know about the relationship-building and classroom management strategies your peers implement?
- How comfortable are you with being observed?
Below are survey results as we asked our faculty for feedback in the Fall of 2023 (green) and Spring of 2024 (yellow).
The data tells a compelling story, doesn’t it? We were thrilled to see the results from Fall 2023 to Spring 2024!
More than that, our same group of teachers completed the same Collective Leadership Survey (Figure 2) one year later and we improved in almost every category. Our Work Design moved from 2.13 to 3.38 in one year of working with BCSL!
Figure 2
Like every school, we have opportunities for growth at Pella Christian. As Jon Eckert wisely notes, “our work is definitely incomplete and possibly wrong.” We remain committed to continuous improvement. However, I want to take a moment to celebrate the incredible team who wholeheartedly embraced this challenging journey. I am profoundly grateful for the Baylor Center for School Leadership, whose guidance and support have been instrumental in our transformation.
Who would have imagined that this kind of growth could emerge from an unexpected combination of the Beatles, Solomon, and the dedicated professionals at the Baylor Center for School Leadership?
What challenge will you tackle with a little help from your friends?
About the Author
Ben Dirksen is on a continual quest to live wholeheartedly and facilitate experiences for others to do the same. You can find him in Pella, Iowa where he gets to serve as the Early Education-8th Grade Principal at Pella Christian Schools.