Overcoming Resistance

I looked today, and this is the 17th article/essay (or whatever these are) trying to document our evolution towards Poverty Informed practice and the reasons behind that choice. In reviewing them, I realized I have been pretty rosy about our experience. And while this has been affirming and even life-changing on some levels, it has not been easy. So, in the interest of full disclosure, today I'd like to share where we find resistance, how we try to overcome it, and why we keep going. There are days when I feel like we are part of a movement and changing the world, and there are days where it seems getting people to do literally the least they can do is almost impossible. The reasons are simple and complex all at once.

Which word jumps out?

The first place I've noticed resistance is in processes and systems and the loyalty that develops to them. It defies logic in many ways, but as a colleague said "people will work very hard to do new things the old way." It's a pretty brilliant summary really. Back in July, I wrote about trying to change the language we used on signs, textbooks, test booklets (pictured with the big NOT), and in classrooms in my building. (here it is again) What I didn't tell you was that small change was met with agonizing resistance. The people who had created the stickers on tests came to me and said they would have to relabel all of them, and it was hundreds of booklets, and could we please wait until fall or just do it from now on... That was a hard one for me to hold my ground on, but it mattered. It seemed like literally the least we could do, and even then, I briefly caved and said we could just do new ones the new way and had to change my mind overnight. It seems silly in hindsight, but changing stickers and signs took months, when it could have taken hours. I would argue the people fighting it weren't even sure what their objection was, they were just loyal to the current system, and somehow had decided because it predated most of them, it was "right." There are lots of other examples, but when you try to change a paradigm, loyalty to processes and systems will be an issue. My best advice is having the courage of your conviction and stay the course.

Maybe it's a little redundant but in an organization our size, bureaucracy will also combat you. My writing generated enthusiasm on our campus and suddenly there was a rash of signs disappearing if they looked unfriendly (i.e. STAFF ONLY on locked doors).

In case being locked wasn't clear enough...

Now the game had started to go outside my sandbox, and pretty soon the physical plant weighed in. There are great people in our physical plant, but they weren't thrilled with random sign changes. I had a choice at that point, go to war, or look for a way to bring them in without losing momentum on campus. I'm a great compromise maker (which actually hasn't always served me well), and I was able to meet with the director and get my area declared an "experimental sign zone." I really have to give him credit for creativity on that one. We are heading towards remodeling, and he said we could look at sign options that gave us our poverty informed ethos and let us prepare for the best possible remodel. It was an elegant solution that let us change the bureaucratic structure slowly, but also let my enthusiastic team move with the urgency they felt. The only downside was some other areas had to put their signs back up, but we will get there. I think the lesson for overcoming resistance here is to pick the hills you are willing to die on. Sometimes a compromise can earn you an ally, and a battle makes you an unnecessary enemy. Pick your battles wisely.

The next area of resistance is less concrete, but it is everywhere. The constant evaluation of who is deserving of help is pervasive. I've written about it a number of times (including here), but it is worth revisiting. Dr. Donna Beegle is so eloquent at challenging all of us to find our underlying bias when she asks us to imagine what someone has to do to be worthy of your help. This form of resistance is more insidious and subtler. It comes up when people question the sustainability of The Bowl (our lobby snacks), or say things like "couldn't a business sponsor that?" It shows up when they tell me that our mantra "Every Barrier That Can Be Removed Should Be Removed," feels a little too much like "welfare." It shows up in seemingly well-intended conversations about why would you do this just for these students, shouldn't this be for everyone... That last one is particularly challenging because they are right in some sense. We believe that Poverty Informed practice is a form of Universal Design and solving the barriers for #RealCollege students solves things for students in general. But my history and sense of urgency says students in the crisis of poverty can't wait for the world to find universal solutions. For once, the students I'm advocating for get to lead the way, not wait for the rest of the world to be ready to help them. Can you see the subtle judgment within that other approach? So while it is better to fix systems than to fix people, we aren't asking the "people" to wait, at least within the best of our ability. Someday maybe the world will realize our students with the most barriers teach us everything, but until then we will plow the road for them the best we can. So, my advice to anyone working through this issue is twofold. First, give up on the notion of universal acceptance. This work will require upsetting people, and if you can't get comfortable with that, it will be hard. In all honesty, it's my biggest challenge... I like to be liked. Second, openly embrace what you are doing. Belief seems to attract belief and passion seems to attract passion. For everyone who has questioned snack purchases or lack of screening for assistance, there are two people telling me they love their job more than ever, and they feel like they understand our purpose.

I will leave with this. If you want to take on systems, processes, bureaucracy, and implicit bias, you better have reasons that keep you going. I admire the students we serve and personal connections with their stories keep me going. I'm pictured with my friend Emmie.

She shared a lot of her story with me last week on video, and I'll be sharing that soon (I'm not an expert editor, and she gets a chance to review), but I see her at school every day and realize she came back to college after years of homelessness and with barriers most of us would crumble under. But she embodies hope, and I think we owe her every effort to do whatever we can to shrink and remove barriers for her. Emmie is also a recently published poet, and I want to leave you with her poem "I AM." It's worth a reread on the days where the journey to real Poverty Informed practice seems too far. We can't stop. Emmie deserves our best effort.