Providing Transparency to Teaching & Learning

It was not long ago that the vast majority of teachers preferred to shut the door and be left alone to teach.  As Rick DuFour put it, we as teachers thought of ourselves as independent contractors united by a common parking lot (DuFour, Eakar, DuFour 2005).   Thankfully, there has been a shift in pedagogy, in part precipitated by Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), over the last decade or so which has increased teacher collective efficacy through collaboration.  This trend is slowly growing around the country and is the message of the sixth principle for  Schools of Modern Learning.  

Principle #6:  Modern Schools see transparency and sharing as fundamental to a powerful learning environment.

     Whenever I hear the saying, “making lemonade out of lemons” one of the places my mind goes is to when I was a “traveling” science teacher.  For a time, I didn’t have my own classroom and had to travel between science rooms on a cart. This actually took place in three of the four school districts in which I taught.  I suspect you can imagine there was a lot of stress involved, as well as extra time needed, to prepare and organize lab materials that could be quickly loaded on and off of a cart which was then rolled through student filled hallways from one classroom to another throughout the day.  Although it was a pain, I was happy to have a job, and in looking back I would not trade those years of traveling between classrooms if given the chance to do it again. I know it sounds crazy, but the unexpected opportunities that came up for me to listen to and observe teachers whose classroom I shared provided a window into the power of learning from other teachers.  This was especially important for me as a “newer” teacher as it led to conversations about labs, teaching techniques, and philosophical pedagogical differences with my teaching colleagues. I took full advantage of these conversations, asked a lot of questions, shared a lot of material, and liked to think I contributed as much as I consumed while setting up my teaching network.  In many ways, even though I was “newer” I connected with more of the teachers than some of the veterans because of the opportunity to be in so many different classrooms. This experience, without question, sold me on the power of collaboration and the importance of learning from each other.  

     This power of networking and sharing should not be limited to the adults within a school.  Learning is a social process and it is important that classrooms provide the opportunity for young people to “network” with their classmates everyday.  It has been said that whoever is doing the talking is doing the thinking, so if that is true we need to be sure to provide opportunities for young people to share their thinking with each other both in and out of the classroom. Having students share their thinking inside the classroom is much easier than sharing it outside the classroom as there are very few avenues available.  The importance of this was addressed in last week’s blog Connecting to the Community to Enrich the School Narrative, but how this can be done is what principle #6 is all about.   Transparency needs to more the norm than the exception in schools and especially so for each classroom.  

     More and more teachers are tweeting what is happening in their classrooms which does promote transparency.  However, I think a more powerful approach is to have young people share their learning and one way to do this is through an online presence in the form of an e-portfolio.  Google Sites is a very user friendly way for young people to create an e-portfolio.  In fact it is so easy, I have been using it for my own Learner's Portfolio which I linked to my email signature.  Understanding how to build an online presence is a valuable skill for young people to develop as “increasingly, there is an expectation from employers that students have built an online portfolio of work that shows creativity, curiosity, collaboration, and persistence”  (Richardson & Dixon, 2017, p. 13). It is important for young people to know how to actually build an online or e-portfolio, but the value of the process comes from understanding what pieces of evidence and accompanied narrative young people should provide to demonstrate their understanding of learning.  The more adults and young people in schools share their learning, the more opportunities they create to learn from each other. These opportunities provide a window into the classrooms that, like visiting the classroom in person, can promote conversation, generate ideas, and enhance learning between schools, classrooms, teachers, and most importantly young people.

References

DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & DuFour, R. (2005).  On common ground: The Power of

Professional Learning Communities. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.

Richardson, Will & Dixon, Bruce (2017).  10 Principles for Schools of Modern 

     Learning.  White Paper from modernlearners.com.

Connecting to the Community to Enrich the School Narrative (Principle #5)

One of the biggest challenges for schools is also one of the most impactful for demonstrating the value of schools.  This challenge is to get the schools into the community more and the community into the schools. This interaction happens most effectively in the fine arts and through sports.  The pride our young people and parents share through the production of a musical, attendance at a concert, or cheering on a team on the field or court goes a long way in promoting pride in the schools for many communities. However, there are very few schools that take this same approach to the learning taking place within the school and overcoming this oversight is the focus of Modern Learners’ fifth principle.

Principle #5: Embrace and emphasize real-world application and presentation to real audiences as assessment for learning.

     There is no reason that the same pride a community feels after a win on a Friday night football game can’t be applied to the learning taking place within the school day.  In fact, many communities place a tremendous amount of pride, and local realtors capitalize on this pride, through the announcement of state test scores and the corresponding ranking of  districts. Unfortunately, this pride is misplaced, as test scores alone neither demonstrate the learning taking place nor equate to a quality education. It should be no surprise that test scores and rankings are utilized because in order to determine if the schools are providing a quality education,  parents who do not get the information they need from the schools, are forced to “clutch at the straws of test scores as substitutes for richer relationships that concern their own children” (Hargreaves & Shirley, 2010, p. 78). This is why it is important to get the schools into the community more and the community into the schools.  If we can be successful in doing this (Principle #5) it will change the narrative for schools as parents will now have those aforementioned richer relationships.

     One of the most powerful ways to share experiences is through stories and each day young people are in school they add to their own story.  That story is carried home at the end of the school day and often shared with parents. This is especially true at the earlier grade levels.  As a result, when we design our learning environments we need to keep in mind the school experiences of young people because these experiences will become the narrative of the stories going home each day.  A bad experience can lead to a bad story, yet a positive and enriching experience can lead to a much better narrative. This is the first place we, as educators, can have a positive impact on the narrative parents will hear.   If those learning environments we design in school can tap into the passion and interests of young people it can become a powerful message going out to the community. I have already shared the specification of these powerful learning environments in A New Narrative for Our Schools, so I won’t reiterate them here.  Instead, I would like to focus on the back end of the design which begs the question,  “How do we share the learning taking place in school more effectively with our community?”  As soon as I asked myself this question a second popped in my mind: “Who do I mean when I use the pronoun ‘we’?”  If “we” means the adults, then we are missing an opportunity. If “we” means young people and adults than I think we have something.  So, how can young people share their learning more effectively with our community?  

   One idea is currently being piloted in our 8th grade classrooms.  This group of teachers are using student led parent conferences as an avenue to allow young people to demonstrate the learning taking place in school.  Although a small step, it is a step in the direction of providing parents with a richer narrative of their child’s education that goes beyond test scores.  Classes which get young people out into the community, such as Service Learning, also enrich the narrative as they provide opportunities for connecting the schools to the community.  One of the reasons that a class such as Service Learning is a natural connection to the community is because it causes young people to focus on real world problems. That insight leads to a question that just might help us make the next step toward our goal of  positively adding to the narrative of schools. In each of our classrooms, what real world problems or questions are students and teachers building their work around? That answer is going to be unique for each group of young people in each classroom, but that is the power of the question. I can’t sit here on my couch and provide a clear picture of what the product might be, but I can confidently state that the process is where the value will be reaped.   “The skills that go into problem finding and solving, communication and presentation of ideas and doing world-changing work are among the most sought after in the modern workforce” (Richardson & Dixon, 2017, p. 12). By creating environments in our classrooms that provide opportunities for this process, we will not only be working toward a school culture which prepares young people for life, we will be embracing and emphasizing a connection to the community which will enrich the narrative of our schools far beyond scores and rankings.  

References

Hargreaves, Andy & Shirley, Dennis (2010).  The Fourth Way: The Inspiring Future 

     for Educational Change.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Richardson, Will & Dixon, Bruce (2017).  10 Principles for Schools of Modern 

Learning.  White Paper from modernlearners.com.

From Consumers to Contributors (Principle #4)

I feel comfortable stating that in most of our classrooms we don’t want young people to solely be consumers in the classroom, but instead want them to contribute and be a part of class in some form.  In Aurora I have seen this range from a more traditional interactive lecture in which teachers engage students with a series of questions about the information being presented to a classroom in which young people choose what they would like to learn and how they would like to learn it through their selected “plunge” in Independent Learning.  Both approaches promote young people contributing to the classroom in one form or the other rather than passively consuming information being presented. However, it is the degree in which young people are engaged and contribute that is stressed in more Modern Schools versus schools that are more traditional.

Principle #4:  Modern Schools see curriculum as something that is co-constructed to meet the needs and interests of the child

     The first thing that came to mind for me when reading principle #4 was a question.  How many of us (educators) see curriculum as the centerpiece of our classroom versus seeing young people as the focus?  I wonder because, I believe your position on that question will determine how your classroom will be designed. (see also Guilty as Charged)  I am “tipping my hand” on my view by stating that the curriculum is meerly the medium in which we work.  As educators we do need to have a certain amount of content/curricular knowledge, but ultimately it is not the content knowledge that separates out the more effective teachers from less effective.  We should not only ask ourselves, “Do you have the knowledge to teach?” but also “Do you have an understanding of how young people learn?”  

     Having solid knowledge of the curriculum along with understanding how young people learn gives teachers the ability to design learning environments that will emphasize  George Couros' eight signs of an innovative classroom.   These learning environments will then give young people and teachers the opportunity to co-design curriculum that works toward the standards, but still meet the needs and interest of the child (principle #4).  The shift is from a teacher centered classroom in which the teacher’s thinking is demonstrated to one in which the young person’s thinking is instead on display. Similar ideas to this principle were shared in “Can Playing and Learning be Synonymous?,” so I won’t go too much farther down that path.  However, I do think it is important to emphasize that if we look at the curriculum as the medium in which we work to help all young people learn we will better be able to teach.   The origin of the word “teach” comes from the Old English term “techon,” which means “to show”...not to tell. Putting students in situations and giving them time to process and make or see connections is what we should be doing, but we must be able to recognize where the students are developmentally, understand the scaffolds of our subject area well enough to know where the students fit, and have the ability to put them into the next best situation that would allow them to see and ultimately make those connections.  That is helping young people go from being consumers to being contributors in the classroom which is principle #4 in a nutshell.

Principle #3: Self-Determined Learning

Thanks to the push for standards in education, the Modern Learning’s third principle which states, “Modern Schools have cultures where personal, self-determined learning is at the center of student and teacher work” is more challenging to meet.  However, standards don’t eliminate this idea and still should play an important role in education as stated in this 2017 post.   At the same time, I do believe there is a way to incorporate more self-determined learning within schools in the form of choice.

   Certainly as parents we believe self-determination is the goal for our kids and similarly in schools teachers work with young people with self-determination in mind. (see also Reminder to Self: Self Determination is the Goal).  However, when school is combined with standards this is where the art of teaching comes in to play and demonstrates teaching is not rocket science.  It is actually much harder.  Physics makes rocket science complicated, working with young human beings makes teaching complex.  Complex is always more challenging than complicated because it comes with unpredictability. That is why teachers must not rest on good teaching, but continue to hone their skill (see also Red Queen Effect) in order to meet all young peoples’ needs .  Where principle #3 comes in to play is that "working to improve" does not necessarily mean to improve your teaching (though it can’t hurt), but instead to work to be a better learner.  In an Apprenticeship for Learning I mentioned that “Learners beget Learners.”  That means if we want our young people to be learners, we (all educators) need to be learners ourselves.  We have to ask ourselves if our school supports a teaching culture or a learning culture? The former is more traditional, but the latter is more applicable for what young people need today.  

Principle #2: "Living" the Vision

Last week’s post  was the first to address the 10 Principles for Schools of Modern Learning which emphasized the importance of having a vision.  The second principle basically states that having a vision is not enough, as you also need to actually follow or live the vision.  In my mind, there are two questions that we need to be considering for "living" the vision. The first question to ask is, “Does our vision of schooling align to what we believe is the purpose of school?” and the second is, “How do we plan to follow the vision of our school?”

Principle #2:  Modern Schools live a mission and a vision deeply informed by new context of learning.

     In this principle, Will Richardson and Bruce Dixon allude to the importance of recognizing that schools need to help prepare young people for their future rather than our past.  This “new context of learning” means that the traditional approach centered on the accumulation of knowledge, efficiency, and compliance is no longer as applicable to the needs of young people.  Instead the purpose of schools needs to be preparing young people for life (see What is Your One Wish for this School Year?  and How are you Celebrating Question Week?) .  So what does a vision of preparing for life look like?   Richardson & Dixon state that your “mission and vision should be built on what the school community believes about how children and adults learn most powerfully.”  That means this vision would depend on the community in which we live and so, this brings me back to our strategic vision.  

     The strategic vision for Aurora, as mentioned last week, is very close to being ready to be officially rolled out.  As a matter of fact, parents and community members are invited to a focus group this Monday, November 4, 2019, at the Aurora High School library in order to see and provide feedback on the six core competencies of this strategic vision.  These competencies were identified as key characteristics that young people in Aurora should develop or possess and therefore point to the purpose of our school district as determined by the community.  Once these competencies are finalized (notice I am purposely avoiding stating them just yet) the next step for us will be to consider how to achieve or develop them in our young people.

     Once we have determined our purpose/vision for our schools the second question to ask is, “How do we plan to follow the vision of our school?” I shared my hope for this in an earlier post titled A New Narrative for Our Schools, so I will try not to be too redundant in this week’s thoughts.  However, I will say that if we want young people to develop their “roots” and be questioners, problem solvers, collaborators, learners, empathetic, balanced, resilient, etc.  we need to design environments which will provide the opportunities to nurture these skills. If this is the narrative we choose to follow, rather than one of “rigor or excellence” I believe we better set our students up for success as defined in our strategic vision.   As a side note, I feel I need to provide the disclaimer that when I was principal of Aurora High I often mentioned if there was one word I would use to describe Aurora it was “excellence.” Excellence in academics, excellence in the arts, and excellence in athletics. In hindsight, these statements, though good intentioned, inadvertently contributed to undermining this new narrative.  As a matter of fact, new research is pointing to students in high achieving schools (ones focused on excellence) are now being identified as a new at risk group.  I can’t go back in time, so going forward instead of emphasizing “excellence” as the one word to describe our schools I would suggest we emphasize “opportunity” in this new narrative.  If we ask ourselves, “What opportunities can we design in our classrooms which will allow young people to nurture their roots?” (a.k.a develop these skills) then we will make steps toward living the vision informed by this new context of learning.