Reflecting on the First of Ten Principles for Schools of Modern Learning

This past week a colleague asked if I was familiar with the Modern Learners initiative headed up by Bruce Dixon and Will Richardson.  At the time I was not, so this week I decided to look into this group.  I was surprised to find out the Modern Learners initiative has been established since 2012.  One of this group’s goals is to “move the discussion about change in schools into real action.”  One of the steps to meet this goal was to establish a global community that could share ideas and experiences.  Hence, the Modern Learner initiative. As I read more about this group I came across some eerily similar beliefs to those I have independently formed since my transition out of the classroom.  Ironically, also back 2012, I first shared the idea of Schools as a Greenhouse, with someone other than my wife, when I became the new principal of Aurora High School.  

     The first of these common beliefs included the idea that schools today are at a crossroads.  This was a topic in my very first principal’s newsletter to our staff which included the commentary Hope for Improving Student Achievement.   Modern Learners addressed the same topic in  whitepaper titled “10 Principles for Schools of Modern Learning” (see the free download at the bottom of this website).  The second overlap was a shared belief that traditional schools which optimize on efficiency or “doing things right” are not meeting the needs of young people today who need schools to optimize on effectiveness or “doing the right thing.”  (see Time, Priorities, & Sharpening the Saw and Do Your Practices Match Your Beliefs).  Finally, I came across a third similarity between some of my own early ideas and those of the Modern Learners when reading that the founders of this movement believe “The modern world demands...classrooms where (young people) act as apprentice learners who work with teachers, who are master learners, first and foremost, not where they are seen as ‘empty vessels to be filled with knowledge.” (see also An Apprentice for Learning).  Given all of these common beliefs, I started to think it was worth finding out a little more about Modern Learners.  As mentioned earlier, this group produced a whitepaper which introduces what they believe are the 10 Principles of Modern Schools.  I thought each of these principles would be worth reflecting on and comparing to Aurora or at least where I believe Aurora could go, so I think I found topics for my next ten posts.  :)  

Principle #1:   Modern Schools have clearly articulated and shared beliefs about learning

The authors of the whitepaper propose that, “School communities without clearly articulated beliefs around learning create wild inconsistencies for students as they travel between classrooms…”  I believe we, in Aurora, have captured the spirit of this principle in that we utilize Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) to minimize the educational lottery that can take place from teacher to teacher in a particular grade level or subject area.  The use of common math and ELA frameworks at the K-5 level also gives us a chance to create consistent experiences for the young people in our district. However, we do have room for growth under this first principle. I believe we all say that we want what is best for kids (ex. Kids come first), but I don’t think we have shared beliefs about what learning looks like.  As an example, many of our classrooms are more teacher centered than student centered even though we say we want student centered classroom that include more voice and choice for young people.  When we talk about “learning,” I think it is important to ask “Whose thinking are we talking about?”  Is it the teacher’s thinking or the student’s thinking? We say we want young people to see relationships and make connections, which would point to the student’s thinking.  However, if we find ourselves telling students what they should know or how to do something it points more to the teacher’s thinking than the student’s.   Ultimately, I believe that to have shared beliefs about learning you have to value a shared vision.  

     Without repeating everything from my 2018 post  The Value of A Shared Vision I do want to emphasize that we must overcome the fear of falling test scores or lower school rankings if we are going to truly design environments that are optimal for young people to learn and create a school culture focused on learning.  “There are two fundamental things that brains want: to be safe and happy” (Zull, 2002, p.49).  If there is a perceived fear, such as repercussions from low test scores, that exists than one of those two fundamental requirements of the brain are not being met.  Often it is the feeling of loss of control that provides the fear for our brains to not feel safe. So, whether it is our young people in the classroom or ourselves in the schools, it is important to feel in control.  “The brain evolved to detect and resist exactly this type of thing (loss of control) for over five million years. It is not going to give in now” (Zull, 2002, p. 53), so it is best to take this into account when supporting a culture of learning.  

      We are getting very close to rolling out a new strategic vision for the Aurora City Schools.  I am excited for this event to take place because I believe this vision will allow us to have more conversations on what learning should look like in our schools.   We will be able to use the six competencies of an Aurora student as a sort of north star for decisions both in and out of the classroom and move closer to meeting the first principle for a school of Modern Learning.

References

Zull, James (2002).  The Art of Changing the Brain.  Sterling VA: Solution

Tree Press.Stylus Publishing.

Operating at 80-85% of Your Maximum Capacity

Back in the day, I really tried to exercise regularly in order to maintain a healthy body and mind.  During those exercise times, be it running, bicycling, or lifting, I had this approach of operating around 80-85% of my maximum capacity for the majority of the workout with occasional or perhaps even periodic pushes into the 90+ range.  What I didn’t do is go 100% for the majority of the time because I knew that I couldn’t maintain that level and that it was also not healthy. This approach not only works for exercising, but I would suggest it also is an approach that should be used for teaching.

   This advice may sound sound counterintuitive to most teachers as we seem to believe that if we are not going at 100% capacity 100% of the time we would be selling the young people we work with short.  However, I would argue, that this belief is a recipe which will lead to either burn-out or complacency (i.e. I’m doing the best I can). I am guessing this is either hitting home or you have someone in mind as you are reading.  I’ve seen it with people I’ve worked with and have been guilty of putting myself in that same situation despite knowing better. If many of us operate at such a high level all the time we feel like the “water is at chin level” and the first time something out of the ordinary (at work or at home) hits we feel as if the “water level is rising past our mouth or nose.”  Soon, we feel like we are in over our head and that is when the young people in our classroom are negatively impacted. Working at 80-85% capacity not only allows room to ramp up our efforts when these unexpected twists hit, but also works to build our own capacity.

     Just like exercising over time builds endurance, working to use best practices over time builds capacity.  We get better at something the more we push through as long as it is within our zone of proximal development (see also They do not understand shallowness because they do not experience depth).  Therefore, working at 80-85% of your capacity doesn’t mean you always have the same capacity.  We get better at what we do (i.e. raise our capacity as professionals), provided we are not drowning in the process, and become better educators which will lead to positively impacting the young people with whom we teach.  Operating under these conditions provides the means to be more effective in the classroom over time without burning out or feeling as if we just can’t take on one more thing.

Do Your Practices Match Your Beliefs?

One of my favorite professors at  Kent State University was Dr. Autumn Tooms.  She had a unique approach to developing future instructional leaders which included assigning us to experience something we would never do on our own in order to get us out of our comfort zone.  She sent some of our more conservative classmates to a mosque, a group of quite female future administrators were required to go into a biker bar, while others of us were sent to get a manicure at an Asian nail salon. Ben Hegedish, who is now the current superintendent at the Independence Local Schools, and I were sent to the nail salon.  As we entered the salon we convinced ourselves that it would be fine because we were going to put the “Man” in manicure.  However, soon after my hands were dipped in warm fragrant water to prepare my nails for the manicure an unexpected feeling of calm satisfaction began to come over me and as I glanced at Ben, he looked like he was in his own little world.  The experience was something I have remembered over the years as it not only reminds me of what I might be missing by not considering other perspectives (the intended message), but it also has helped to remind me of the importance of trying to relate to others.  As a simple example, I now totally get it when my wife says she “needs” a manicure. :) Those unusual assignments from Dr. Tooms stick out to me, but there was another that had an even more lasting impact on my leadership philosophy.

    I didn’t expect it at the time, but our assignment to read George Bernard Shaw’s Major Barbara is something I have leaned on almost daily.  This was unexpected because Major Barbara would hardly be considered a requirement for  educational leadership, but Dr. Tooms knew what she was doing.  In the book Shaw’s protagonist, Major Barbara, struggles with the moral dilemma to accept blood money from her father’s arms dealership in order to support her passion to help the poor.  To add to the issue she witnesses her once pure hearted fiance succumb to the temptations of power which come with these tainted funds. Ultimately, Major Barbara must constantly ask herself what she values in order to make daily decisions in spite of the pressure from others and temptations she faces.  It is this theme that I have carried out of Dr. Tooms’ lesson and into my own daily decisions.

    Many times what we say is meant to convey what we value.  “Kids Come First," “Nurture the Roots,” and “Do the Right Thing” are a few examples of such statements.  However, it is our actions which speak louder than our words. It is important that we ask, “Do our practices match our beliefs?”  In a 2017 post titled, “Are you Up for the Challenge to be Authentic from Day One,” I introduced the idea that in education time is currency.  We can say anything we want about what we value, but how we spend our time (our actions) in the classroom demonstrates what we value.  Do you spend time talking to young people in order to get to know them and understand where they are in their continuum of learning or do you spend time talking at students being sure to cover the content?  Do you take the time in class to allow young people to make their own connections and develop their own thinking or do you efficiently share your thinking with students and tell them what they need to know to be successful on the next test?   We should be considering questions such as these for decisions made everyday in every classroom, school, or school district. I also suggested, in a 2018 post,  that there is a difference between doing things right and doing the right thing  So, what is the difference?  

    Doing the right thing requires one to reflect on what you value and if , as an example, you believe “kids come first” than you should make decisions based on that belief even if it means sacrificing following a rule, bucking an expectation, or requires a move to break from tradition. (all examples of “doing things right”).   It has been said that the average classroom teacher makes 1500 decisions a day. I would think the average instructional leader is near that number as well.  With so many decisions taking place each day how can educators be sure to do the right thing?  I believe we must look through a lens that will help us to focus on what is important or have something to anchor our decisions.   My suggestion would be for that anchor or lens to be what you value. If we honor this approach then, like Major Barbara, we will make decisions which demonstrate what we value and our practices will match our beliefs.

Yep...They Matter

When looking back at this past week, my initial thoughts were that “school topics” were overridden by my attendance at two funerals and a Hall of Fame induction.  However, as I thought about it more, the message from each of those three events is really the most important school topic to consider which is “relationships matter.”  

     As you can imagine, those in attendance at each of the funerals did not focus on the accomplishments of the individuals being remembered but instead the relationships which were formed.  A similar scenario took place at the induction ceremony. This year’s inductees to the Aurora Alumni Association Hall of Fame included Martin Calfee ((Distinguished Alumni) and Ted Linden (Honored Educator).  Martin is an accomplished businessman as demonstrated through taking over a fledgling business with annual sales of 250,000 per year to one which now includes 30 locations with over 15 million dollars of annual sales.  However, the people that spoke about him at the induction along with Martin himself emphasized the relationships that were formed while at Aurora was what made the difference. Ted was nominated by a former student and her son who BOTH had Ted during his career.  They emphasized Ted’s biggest impact was not what he taught, but the relationships that he formed which was evident even though both were literally a generation apart. Ted also mentioned the strong relationships with the staff at Harmon as a key factor to keeping his priority on forming relationships with his students.  

     In a 2017 post titled Guilty As Charged, I admitted that if someone asked what I taught I would answer “Biology” or “Chemistry,” rather than answer “I teach kids.”  Ultimately, that is what we do though...isn’t it?. The curriculum is really just the medium in which we work. Nurturing young people to develop as learners prepared for life starts with forming relationships.  One of Pat Ciccantelli’s (our Superintendent) favorite quotes is “Kids don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” which is the same message as Rita Pierson famous TedTalk (Every Kid Needs a Champion),  in which she states “kids don’t learn from people they don’t like.” Both emphasize the message that relationships matter.  Those relationships are especially important when things are not going as planned. Sean Achor, author of the Happiness Advantage, points to research that supports the importance of relationships in his last key principle labeled “Social Investment” (a.k.a. relationships).  Ross Greene also emphasizes, in Lost at School that the first step in working with young people struggling with behavioral issues in school is to “achieve the best possible understanding of a kid’s concern or perspective related to a given problem” (Greene, 2014, p.79).  Sounds like forming relationships to me.   

     It is easy to not see the forest because of all the trees.  Sometimes in schools we need to step back in order to see the big picture that relationships are key to accomplishing all the “other stuff” even though that “other stuff” is important.  I am hoping that it won’t take another sad event such as a funeral or even a celebration like the induction ceremony to remind me that relationships are THE “school topic” we should focus on first and….yep...they matter.  

References

Greene, Ross. (2014).  Lost at School: Why Our Kids with Behavioral Challenges Are

    Falling Through the Cracks and How We Can Help Them. New York, NY: Scribner.