Reflective Prompt 9/7/16
Reflective Prompt:
- Glickman (p. 13) states, " Educators are the primary stewards of the democratic spirit. The total of our efforts is far greater than the particulars of our job."
- Elmore (p.3) examines the actual experience of students in the classroom: Teachers and Students in the presence of Content.
- "Practice drives belief..."
- Ginsberg reminds us that motivated teachers have motivated learners, and that the whole activity of education is ethical and political in nature (p.5).
- What type of society do we desire?
- What type of educational environment should supervision promote in order to move us toward the society we desire?
Regarding Elmore’s interview and article: I appreciated these two articles and truly see them as a valuable resource in the work that I do with supporting and engaging teachers in tough instructional conversations. Most specifically this focus on strengthening instructional outcomes through the intentional identification of our professional practices. In my opinion this is essential for educational support staff, teachers, teacher leaders, principals, superintendents, and even school board members and policy makers.
ReplyDeleteIt is all about what you do, with and for students, and the mindset in which you see future growth opportunities (growth mindset). I believe that these need to occur both within the educational structure and current system of your schools and districts, as well as in the way you do the real work within your specific teaching environment. These articles provided great insights and really challenged me to think more about the need for evidence of practices, verses this notion of instructional intent or belief. It helps me to more regularly ask the question: What practices support a student centered learning environment?
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ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the Elmore interview/article and his perspective on practice driving beliefs. This has really challenged my idea of what impactful professional development should and could look like (ie: structured exercises for analysis and reflection on data gathered from the classroom and observation). This perspective runs counter to what I have experienced over my time in education. I think about all of the PD that I have been involved with and all of the Ted Talks I have seen, the articles I have reflected on and all of the conversations about where I stand when it comes to a specific topic (ie: formative assessment, ACES, etc.) - all aimed at challenging the perspective of the teacher and hopefully changing the way they practice in the classroom. While the touchy-feely can be impactful emotionally, without proper support and guidance to the practices that will increase student engagement and achievement then true change will be fleeting or non-existent.
ReplyDeleteWith that said I am thinking a lot about why the guidance/support doesn't happen as much as it should and I agree with what Elmore states, "one of the big barriers we have is with administrators. They do not feel competent to talk to teachers about instruction because they don't feel knowledgeable. They don't feel that they understand the work well enough and they are still in the transitional period in which they're not sure why this part of their job in many cases (pg. 8)." The lack on understanding of a content area I think gets in the way for a lot of new administrators and they will often side-step the hard conversations because they think they don't know or are uncertain about the best practices in the content area. However, I think we must remember as future administrators that it isn't necessarily important to understand the content, rather understanding practical, researched-based, instructional strategies that will get students engaged, critically-thinking and moving to a higher level in their understanding of particular ideas and concepts is the most important.
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ReplyDeleteI think the society we want (and the society the three authors indicate that they desire) is not the society we are currently preparing our students to enter and shape.
ReplyDeleteWe want an equitable society where thinking and critical judgment are valued and one where educators are treated as and behave as working professionals. All three authors value the knowledge and skills that students bring to the classroom and that teachers bring to their work, and all three focus on how to build capacity in teachers in order to move student learning forward.
Sadly, this vision of our educational environment is not our current reality. If we are to be known by our actions rather than our aspirations, we desire a society that is compliant, focused and able to complete assigned tasks and tests.
Supervision that would move us towards an educational environment that would support the society we seek would have to include:
* An enacted growth mindset - moving beyond agreeing with what we read in the book. This needs to be modeled by and included in all levels of the educational system to move us toward a vision of a democratic society that values the individual talents of its learners.
* Curiosity and inquiry in our practice in order to be culturally responsive, culturally relevant, equitable and grow capacity in our teachers and our students.
Supervision that guides, empowers, coaches and aligns our practice to our vision is key for creating the kinds of learning classrooms we hope to see. One of my favorite expressions is "We can't fire our way to Finland" and we need to view supervision as the tools we use to help build teacher capacity rather than punish teachers. That type of thinking does impact how we view student learning.
-- Katie
Well said, Katie! I'd add on that I would like a society where everyone has a role or important part in the function of that society. Our ability to contribute to the world around us ties us emotionally and motivationally to be engaged and committed to the success of that environment. It gives us a purpose, a drive, an intrinsic motivation to do our best at big and small tasks. I think it can be easy for students, teachers and administrators to become extrinsically motivated because of the shear volume of work we encounter. Our daily lives have little time for reflection and planning that is meaningful to us. In order to make a shift, educators at all levels must be willing to take personal responsibility toward their professional growth and we need room to explore, make mistakes and try again without feeling embarrassed or judged. As learners, we can't develop critical thinking and judgement, and problem solving without tackling genuine and applicable problems of practice.
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DeleteI too reflected on the idea that we are known by our actions rather than our aspirations. I sense that a lot of educators feel they do an "activity" to meet compliance - mostly by checking a box. These types of activities often take away (time and motivation) from our own internal motivation to create or inspire something new. I've been working lately at looking through the lens of "how can I make this "check-off" activity meaningful to my students/staff? How I project the task on the outside should not always mirror how I feel about it on the inside. Ideas are brought forth with some needed value/goal in mind - but often as it trickles down through the system it loses its muster and desired purpose.
DeleteI so agree that the society that we are preparing our students to enter and shape is not the one that we want. Instead, we are more and more moving towards a society that focuses on extrinsic motivation for learning through governmental mandated testing. Yet, each of the three authors either allude to or directly talk about the fact that extrinsic motivation does not work. In fact, most of the research on education clearly indicates that educators need to build and foster relationships with their students in order for them to be successful. Ginsberg talks about this in the first chapter of Excited to Learn. She clearly states that although motivated teachers have motivated learners, educators need to learn more about the lives and culture of their students to truly understand what intrinsically motivates them to learn.
DeleteOnce a “’seek first to understand’ orientation towards students” (Ginsberg, p. 4) is established then we will be able to move towards a “pedagogy that consciously integrates an ethical perspective that begins not with test scores but with questions” (Ginsberg, p. 6) that take the cultural needs of the students into account in order to move towards the type of society that we want.
Juhi,
DeleteWhen I take it up to a larger scale and have to think about 911 and our student who had not been born then. I reflectively think how different is the world they are growing up in?
Today,a friend in law enforcement had to respond to an officer involved shooting. I hugged all our "little's" a little closer today. Sometimes we don't know the traumas our colleagues or student deal with outside of school or what is weighing on their minds.
I had a new to education observer today who broke down in tears when she watched a Check in Check out (CICO) with a student. We debriefed afterwards and I too was in tears. I am so proud of the work we are going with our "littles" to prepare them in a kind and caring way to talk about what they need to be successful. Taking a few minutes each day to ask a student what can I do to support your learning. Has taken one of my toughest littles from high frustration for all to "a delight to have in class" written by his looping teacher this year.
I agree that "seeking to first understand" students (ginsberg, p.4) and on a greater scale society is what our culture needs to become high performing and kind.
My hope is that we are raising a future generation of leaders that is prepared to have conversations and take action to lead to a safe, respectful, and kind society that acheives things we hadn't dreamed where possible.
I really appreciated the Elmore reading/interview. One take away for me as a leader to improve student instruction is:
ReplyDeleteThe premise behind lesson study is simply if you wan to improve teaching, the most effective place to do so is in the context of a classroom lesson. pg. 6 Digging Deeper. I am convinced that in order to improve instruction is directly related to self reflection. I am excited to learn more about how to engage teachers in their own teaching practices. By doing so at the school level- can be a powerful way to have meaningful lessons that are Culturally Relevant. I am also interested about our new ACE trainings and what can we learn from each other to help our ACE students.
I am a strong believer that we want to have productive, positive, and prosperous citizens in our communities. I believe that all students deserve to have an opportunity to be part of an educational program that nurtures, guides and challenges their career path. We also want people in our communities who are responsible, respectful, fair, caring, trustworthy, and goal oriented. The following citizen beliefs are part of the desired society we all want:
Responsible: We want our students to persevere and keep on trying, always do their best, be accountable for choices made, use self-control, and think before acting.
Respectful: We want our students to be tolerant of differences and accept others, honor each other’s cultural beliefs and values.
Fair: We want our students to play by the rules, be open minded, and allow self/others to be heard/listened.
Caring: We want our students to be compassionate and show care for one another & feel safe, forgive others, and help others in need in our classrooms and communities.
Trustworthy: We want our students to be honest, be reliable –do what you say you are going to do, integrity to do the right thing for self and others, and be courageous to take challenges for personal growth.
Goal oriented: We want our students to set goals for a career of their choice, ask for advice and be willing to be guided to accomplish such goals, seek and accept feedback to reach their full potential.
I have no doubt that the citizenship beliefs mentioned above are part of the characteristics of a successful school. All these characters play a key role in the environment and culture of the school. Having all these beliefs in place allows a school learning environment to be welcoming and an inviting place for all students to feel safe and ready to learn. I know that when a child is supported in positive ways student learning is improved and so is the morale of the entire staff. I believe we must work together to fulfill the school’s mission and vision in order to achieve a level of mastery for every student. I will support every teacher to become a leader in our school and share the leadership for the commonwealth of our students. I do believe that every teacher can be a leader and a school leader if we provide the opportunity. “The ultimate goal of communal leadership is for every teacher in the school to become both a teacher leader and part of the school’s communal leadership.” Pg. 12 Glickman, Gordon, Ross-Gordon.
What type of society do we desire? One that fosters collaborative efforts. Functioning as a whole at the same time as individuals. A society that holds values with the intent to implement those values, measures and kept promises. Values can be driven by goals: setting targets and timelines to produce desired results. Evidence of the results should be the intended outcome - beyond just the activity.
ReplyDelete"You can't get the organization's attention without the external measurement, but the external measurement itself is not going to produce the outcome."
What type of educational environment should supervision promote in order to move us toward the society we desire? An environment that focuses on "what we do as opposed to how we're doing." - Focus on the instructional core.... the level of content, student engagement, student thinking - are actually much lower-level tasks than the teachers and administration in a school think they are. So they think students are operating at a much high level then they actually are." Depth over breadth; high-level cognitive work over coverage. "... kids can do pretty much anything you ask them to do with th eright kind of instructional practice."
Great conversation around a very important topic. One idea that I am reflecting on is what Elmore states, "one of the problems is that they (the students) can often function at levels of cognitive complexity that really challenge what they (educators) are doing." This causes me to take a close look at the PD that I have grown accustomed to and question the impact this has on the growth of teachers then ultimately on student learning. I love the idea of creating intentional time for educators (administrators and educators) to participate in rounds - identifying a problem of practice, observing, debriefing, and focusing on the next level of work. The work needs to focus on strengthening the instructional core to met the high level thinking of our students and world today.
ReplyDelete1. I’m not 100% sure that, as an educational institution, we should be trying to determine or create our society as a whole. Any beliefs on our society will be highly determined by religious beliefs, past experiences, and other environmental influences; and in our country where freedom of belief is so highly regarded, I don’t know that our job is to determine what society should look like. I think instead a thorough analysis of what aspects of society education can influence is more valuable. In either instance a brief inventory of our current society is necessary.
ReplyDeleteWith new advances in technology we are seeing a more volatile society that has immediate access to a world-wide platform for distribution of opinion, argument, information, along with many other things. This has created much awareness for many complex issues driven by personal beliefs within our society that require attention. Among these issues are equality, racial discrimination, wealth distribution, global policy, environmental care, etc. All of which will require creativity, collaboration, respectful dialogue, knowledge of past experiences, and foresight to anticipate implications of decisions to solve.
Creativity, collaboration, respectful dialogue, knowledge of history, and foresight are all things that I think our education system can help students to understand. These skills will ultimately shape our society, but not determine it. And, as stated before, determining a society is not something any one person can or should do. No one person should have that much power.
2. As supervisors, we shouldn’t be driving our staff to create the society we desire, but instead working as a staff to determine the society we desire within our building. A shared vision of society is really the only way we are going to really cause impactful change. This will require some pretty intense philosophical discussions and decisions, since any one teacher has the power to undo the work done by others to move a student in a given direction. This work is going to require a similar skillset of impressionable drivers of society as previously discussed.
Ultimately, our buildings need to embody the society that we desire from basic conversation to complex problem solving. Things like creating cultures that value collaboration, respectful dialogue, creativity, and wisdom are examples of steps that need to be taken by supervisors.