Science and Teaching for Field Instructors

Tale from the Field: Creating a Culture of Openness

From Drew Dumsch, Executive Director at The Ecology School, Saco, Maine.

I’ve heard from other program leaders about some of the resistance they encountered when introducing BEETLES to their staff, but when we introduced it to our staff, we didn’t encounter any resistance at all. I think that’s because we already had a deliberate culture of change and innovation in place. We hire with that expectation, and we train for it too. We inculcate the perspective that there are always new ideas around the corner that can improve what we do. I used to work at a program where it was more like, “This is what we do,” and I couldn’t stand it. We have a culture of openness, so when BEETLES came along, our staff were eager and excited to learn about it.

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