Just over a decade ago, Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton authored The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action.  Their point:  we know a great deal, are generally well trained, yet despite all of our knowing, we still are not doing what we know should be done.  In the words of the authors, the phenomenon of the disconnect between knowledge and action as one of the “great mysteries in organizational management: why knowledge of what needs to be done frequently fails to result in action or behavior consistent with that knowledge”.  This observation extends to the arena of public education as easily as it does to the Fortune 500 corporations. 

Just a few months ago, the Inclusive Schools Network celebrated its 10th anniversary with a theme of “From Awareness to Action”.  This is particularly fitting as we move to a new decade yet still recognize that we still have much work to do in realizing the goals of inclusive education within all schools.  In the spirit of New Year’s Resolutions, we offer a Knowing-Doing Audit questionnaire.  You may choose to complete it individually, as a team, as a parent with your child’s teacher or teachers, or as a district level administrative team.  Finally, we have provided a simple Resolution Commitment Planning form to capture your goals for closing the Knowing-Doing gap in your classroom, school or district.

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Inclusive Education Knowing-Doing Gap