The Gallery Walk- Engaging Alongside, Not in Front of Your Community

In the realm of community engagement, there are various tools and approaches that organizations can use to connect with their constituents. One such approach that borrows a best practice from classroom education is the "Gallery Walk”, a discussion technique allows students to be actively engaged as they walk throughout the classroom. They work together in small groups to share ideas and respond to meaningful questions, documents, images, problem-solving situations or texts.

The Limitations of Traditional Town Halls

Traditional town hall meetings, while well-intentioned, often fall short in several crucial aspects of community engagement. These meetings typically involve a one-way flow of information from the organizing entity to the community, followed by a structured Q&A session. While this format has its merits, it is not without significant drawbacks:

1. Positional Nature: Town hall meetings tend to create an "us versus them" dynamic. It can feel like the community is pitted against the organization, leading to an adversarial atmosphere.
2. Limited Conversation: The format primarily allows for individual community members to speak one at a time to the whole group, limiting the depth and diversity of the conversation.
3. Domination by the Vocal Few: These meetings are often dominated by individuals who are either passionately for or against the issue at hand, leaving less room for input from those who may be less vocal or more reserved.
4. Limited Follow-up: Town halls rarely provide opportunities for real-time follow-up or extended discussions, leaving important questions and concerns unresolved.

The Gallery Walk: A More Authentic Approach

The gallery walk offers a refreshing alternative to the traditional town hall format. It creates an environment where community members can engage organically with the organization, fostering a two-way conversation that encourages authentic exchanges. In a Gallery Walk, community members are invited to drop in, walk around, review information on Story Boards and engage with school district representatives either with feedback, questions, or conversations. Here are the steps to set up an engagement utilising a gallery walk:

1. Transparent Website: Start your engagement process by creating a transparent website that clearly articulates the reason for the initiative, timelines of the engagement and shares all related information, including potential solutions, timelines, and results of engagements such as surveys.
2. Survey Feedback: In advance of the meeting, seek public feedback through surveys, organizing responses by themes to gain a better understanding of community concerns and priorities.
3. Design Story Boards and share in advance of the meeting for community review: Create informative story boards that:
   • Clearly define the issue the initiative aims to address.
   • Present relevant data and factors that need consideration.
   • Share the themes of prior community feedback ("What we've heard").
   • Offer multiple potential solutions along with their pros and cons.
4. Follow-up: Provide a platform for community members to submit written feedback such as a follow-up survey.
5. Timelines and Next Steps: Clearly communicate the next steps and timelines for the decision-making process.
6. "What we've heard": Report back follow-up survey results back to the public so that they can see how their feedback is authentically being used.

Tips for District Representatives

Engaging with the community through a gallery walk can be intimidating for district representatives and board members. Here are some tips to ensure a successful and positive experience:

• Identify the district representative who is the expert on a particular topic and ensure they are available if you cannot address a community member’s query. This person can be called upon by board members or other senior leaders should a conversation benefit from their expertise.
• If you don't know the answer to a question, commit to seeking out the information and providing a follow-up response. Providing an email address to submit follow-up questions is a great strategy if you won't be able to follow-up with a staff expert on the subject at the meeting.
• Actively listen but do not provide personal opinions. Encourage community members to submit feedback through follow-up surveys or emails.
• Reassure the community that decisions have not been made yet and that their input is valued and essential to the process.

The Galley Walk for Community Engagement in Action

One of the first tasks when I joined Central Okanagan Public Schools, was to lead the Board's Transportation Task Force. This committee, which consisted of staff and Board Members, was tasked with revising the Board Policy on Transportation and setting fee levels. Faced with significant operating issues and cost overruns, the committee was needing to implement better operating guidelines and a more sustainable financial structure.

The first key task was to lay out clear timelines, communication protocols and deliverables for the Community Engagement. A public website was developed for the engagement that provided the public with key information, timelines for the engagement and links to surveys and their results. The media was provided with news releases at each milestone to ensure that the public was well informed. Survey results were publicly themed, published in detail and were responded to in a What We Heard report.

Once the first survey was completed and published, a Galley Walk engagement session was scheduled in each community. The session included a dozen Story Boards, which detailed the current situation the transportation system is in, including ridership and financial details, results from the first public survey, including where the public felt dollars were best allocated, considerations for what should be included in policy and what reasonable transportation service levels were. Story Boards also included potential options for service levels and fees and what the implications would be for ridership and the overall District budget.

At the Gallery Walks, which were attended by senior staff, transportation staff and Trustees, parents had the opportunity to walk around the story boards and ask questions or have conversations with the District representatives. Sometimes conversations were individual and sometimes they turned into group conversations. The public was provided with the URL for follow-up survey and could respond at the meeting or take away their thoughts and respond at a later time. Results of the survey were shared publicly, directly to parents and to the media.

Feedback heard directly by the Trustees and the results from the follow-up survey was considered in the final recommendations from the Task Force to the Board of Education.

The Board then considered the recommendations and made their final decision, which was reported back to parents directly and to the media. Overall, the Board decided to go with a lower fee, along with a lower service level than was recommended.

The result was a Transportation Policy that created a financial sustainable framework and established timelines and regulations that enabled a more effective and efficient transportation system, while involving and informing the public throughout the process.

In my time at Central Okanagan Public Schools, this process was repeated to address many diverse issues:

-How to equitably cap enrolments at a high school that could not be expanded and could not accommodate their projected students

-Establishment of a Long-Term Facilities Plan in the fastest growing community in Canada

-Reconfiguration of an overcapacity community, its school programs and boundaries with the opening of a previously closed schools

and closing a school to make way for the construction of a new high school

The Role of the School Business Official

The School Business Official is a key resource for any important decision that a District faces. The financial expertise and analysis we provide ensures that the financial and operational impact of potential solutions are communicated throughout the process ensures. We are key resources for community members and ensure decision makers are fully aware of the costs and impacts before they make their decisions.

Conclusion

In the realm of community engagement, the gallery walk stands out as a more effective and inclusive approach than the traditional town hall meeting. By fostering open, authentic conversations and creating an environment where community members can engage at their own pace, the gallery walk ensures that the voices of all constituents are heard and considered. As someone who has experienced both approaches, I can confidently attest to the benefits of engaging alongside, not in front of your community. It's a path that leads to better outcomes and a stronger sense of community ownership in the decision-making process.

If you have any questions, feedback or would like to hear more.

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About the Author

Ryan is a Director of Client Success with MyBudgetFile, a leader in K-12 budgeting across North America. With School Business experience spanning small to large school districts, he has served as President of the Alberta ASBO and led provincial initiatives on financial reporting, school fees and funding. Holding a Chartered Professional Accountant designation and an MBA in Public Policy and Administration from the University of Alberta, Ryan is passionate about the School Business Official’s role in making a difference for students and in their community as a whole.