If you’ve ever left a meeting and felt like you learned a lot, feel like the material is relevant, but also are more confused than before you came in, you might be experiencing framework fatigue. Framework fatigue emerges when different meaning-making tools are competing for attention in our minds. Instead of helping us translate our laundry list of to-dos into clear priorities, the multiple priorities, processes, and tools within those different frameworks can seem to scatter our work into more categories.
Learning about a new framework without context about how it connects to our current knowledge base can further silo our efforts, create a sense of overwhelm, and paralyze us with so many options that we return to the same ol’ same ol’ because, at least we know what to do over there, right? This is common in education and beyond, and it can be a source of burnout. It’s not that you’re not doing important and meaningful work, it’s that you, your team, your school, and your district, need a better sense of the WHY behind the work. The good news? There are ways to combat framework fatigue.
Framework fatigue happens when multiple meaning-making systems compete; crosswalking frameworks is a collaborative process that builds coherence, shared language, and aligned action. Frameworks can be powerful tools that help us organize information, prioritize work, and make decisions. Depending on where the framework is developed, it speaks to different audiences and can be loaded with different sorts of jargon. Because of this, it can be confusing to use too many frameworks.
Frameworks offer a lens through which we can understand our work, but too many lenses can distort our understanding. And while frameworks could serve the same purpose, they often propose really different processes and tools to get the job done. When this happens, frameworks don't make our job easier–they muddy the water with options and if left unintegrated, feel like “another thing” to wrap our heads around. This feeling of overwhelm and confusion is a sign that your team needs coherence.
Coherence is an antidote to framework fatigue because instead of zooming in and out of different levels, approaches, and angles into the same problem, we are instead redistributing all of that work into a system. Coherence is supported by a clear vision of what success looks like, explicit processes for adopting change, and multiple opportunities to learn and jump into work streams. But these things don’t just happen. We have to work to understand our shared purpose and vision, develop processes for change, and ensure relevance to diverse interest holders. Teams can move in this direction by coming together and crosswalking frameworks. That is, go back and forth between multiple frameworks and identify which pieces fit together, overlap, or are left disjointed from the bigger picture.
The process of crosswalking can illuminate shared endeavors and lift up areas of compounded effort and impact. From there, teams can decide if those areas need all hands on deck or if some teams can change their priorities and expand their connection and reach to other areas of development.
Recently, CSLX and Californians Together partnered to crosswalk California’s English Learner Roadmap policy and the Community Schools Essentials. We learned a lot about crosswalking as a process and put together some tips about where to start and how to map different frameworks onto a shared purpose. Crosswalking is less about aligning frameworks and more about building shared meaning. The following principles emerged from our work and reflect structural shifts that help teams move from comparison toward coherence.
Tips for crosswalking frameworks:
The point: Alignment emerges from shared understanding, not comparison.
The point: Confusion isn’t bad, it’s a diagnostic indicator about where translation is needed.
The point: Crosswalking shifts focus from evaluation frameworks to translating meaning across them.
The point: Coherence is achieved when people can use the crosswalk to guide their actions.
Frameworks are meant to help us make sense of complex work, but even the most well- designed models can create mental clutter instead of clarity. Crosswalking shifts us from comparison to translation and uncovers the shared purpose between teams so that intentional decisions can be made. When approached as a collaborative meaning-making process, crosswalking helps you build the conditions for sustainable progress. Crosswalking brings coherence to strategy so that you can act with clarity.
Karina Ruiz is an interdisciplinary researcher working in the fields of childhood studies, family science, and education. Originally from east Los Angeles County in the San Gabriel Valley, Karina is the fifth child to Mexican immigrants. Her upbringing informs her work on the cultural nature of children’s learning in family settings. Her previous work is primarily community-initiated and student-engaged research, focusing on gathering actionable data for the public good. Her research uses ethnographic approaches to understand immigrant legal status as an axis of power in mixed-status families, particularly in community settings and education and community partnerships. She has a background in early child care and worked in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties for over 10 years. She completed her BA in Human Communication with concentrations in oral histories and creative writing at California State University of Monterey Bay and holds a Ph.D. in Latin American and Latino Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
It’s time to stop siloing and start collectively owning our goals as the village that holds the power of our students’ futures. Because it really does take a village to reach our literacy and math goals!
My first few years as a Community School Coordinator (CSC) were, honestly, confusing.
When students feel seen, valued, and part of a caring community, they don’t just show up at school–they want to be there, and they show up ready to engage with learning, and with each other.
