Principle #10: An Evolution Through a Familiar Avenue

  This is not only my last post of 2019, but also the last post of a series of 10 which focused on 10 Principles for Schools of Modern Learning.  The goal for me was to reflect on each of the 10 principles as they compare to what is currently taking place in our school district.   Overall, we have some growing to do, but that is something that is #1 not a surprise and #2 is expected as spelled out in principle #10 for schools of Modern Learning.

Principle #10: Modern Schools embrace and anticipate constant change and evolution.

     This is where my science background comes in handy as I tend to view many things through the lens of  Biology. Viewing Schools as a Greenhouse and The Red Queen Effect are just two examples of applying that Biology lens to schooling.  In this case, principle #10 points out that schools need to be in a constant evolution in order to stay relevant, which is basically The Red Queen Effect as applied to the culture of schools and not just individual professional development.  This is the challenge as the ability to change a culture, by definition, is a much harder task than to change the view of an individual. However, “little drops of water and little grains of sand make the mighty oceans and the pleasant land…,” so with this in mind I would like to suggest how our district can continue our evolution.

     The foundations of this evolution are really already in place.  Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) provide an avenue to come together and build collective efficacy as mentioned in an early blog post.  This structure  allows us to work towards building a culture from day one that is student centered and focused on continuous improvement and growth for all.  I suspect you remember from Biology class that evolution is connected to the phrase “survival of the fittest” which is the common description for natural selection.  However, the phrase I emphasized when teaching about natural selection was “survival of the best fit.” The reason for this slight play on words is because often times the “fittest” did not survive (think of dinosaurs), but instead those that best fit into the pressures from the current environment.  It is these “pressures” that are the real driver of the evolution that takes place because without the pressure there is no need to change and therefore no evolution.

     If we want schools to evolve, there needs to be a similar environmental “pressure” that drives the needed changes.  Those pressures arise from the opportunities to stay abreast of changes both inside and outside education and those opportunities can arise during professional development.  It is through PLCs that we can support innovation and trying new things from a pedagogical standpoint. The conversations and reflections about the innovations that take place during a PLC meeting serve to provide the pressure for change in the form of “discomfort and depth” while at the same time allow teachers to follow and share current best practices.  PLCs are professional development opportunities that are valuable because they are considered to be both continuous and job embedded.

Job embedded professional development gives teachers the time to collaborate and focus more on assessments for learning (formative assessments).  It also promotes peer-driven networks focused on student learning which help teachers shift the prime motivator of success from the fear factor of standardized tests to the peer factor of collaboration with a focus on student learning as a measure of success (Hargreaves & Shirley, 2010).  Linda Darling-Hammond has supported this idea stating, “Effective professional development is sustained, ongoing, content-focused, and embedded in professional learning communities where teachers work over time on problems of practice with other teachers in their subject area or school” (Darling-Hamond, 2010, p. 266).  

PLCs do provide more time for teachers to work together which has the potential to lead to an increase in student learning.  However, “For [teachers] to learn from one another, they must readily share information about their success and failures, as medical professionals do, rather than act as rivals in a struggle for survival” (Ravitch, 2010, p. 228).  Therefore, if teachers are to be most effective they must not work in competition or in isolation, but instead work together to diagnose why a student is struggling much like doctors diagnose a patient when making rounds. These teachers should also use data to inform instruction rather than drive instruction.  

So, in the end, I believe PLCs provide the avenue to “embrace and anticipate constant change and evolution” that schools of modern learning demand.  They are the best way for us to build and support a culture that promotes continuous improvement which will provide the pressure needed to lead to an evolution of our schools.

References

Darling-Hammond, Linda (2010).  The Flat World and Education.  New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Hargreaves, Andy & Shirley, Dennis (2010).  The Fourth Way: The Inspiring Future for Educational Change.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Ravitch, Diane (2010). The Death and Life of the Great American School System:  How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education. New York, NY: Basic Books.