Kim, your question at the end of our session on Tuesday, "Now what?" really struck me.
Christine and Lori both alluded to the "reculturing" that is necessary when we consider our current assessment practices and what we know will benefit students.
On page 15 of Evidence to Action Hume states, "Changing a teaching practice isn't like going on a diet or adopting a fitness regime. When a new teaching practice is successful, you will be able to see and measure the increase in student engagement and achievement...The difficult part of change for us is not maintaining it; it is achieving change in the first place in the midst of our intensely busy lives."
Pondering on that statement and on all of the ideas posted here and posed on Tuesday, my goal this semester is to approach all of my conversations with educators tackling those "courageous questions". This might allow me to assist teachers to "risk small changes in order to gather the evidence that will support [me] in continuing to take new actions and, gradually and slowly, in changing" (15) teacher beliefs. I notice Hume uses the word "risk" which means it may not always be comfortable, but as Cathie continually reminds me: "When Goldilocks was perfectly comfortable, what did she do? She fell fast asleep."
That's what's next for me. I'll tell you how it goes....What's next for you?
Engaging and Teaching Young Adolescents Through Assessment by Karen Hume A Book Study with Teacher Librarians
Our Modalities and Learning Styles
I think what we have to consider when talking about changing teacher practice is 'changing HOW teachers practice'. What I mean by this that often teachers get caught up with what to cover that they fall into the 'practice' of doing it in isolation. Therein lies the rub...working in isolation rarely ever results in change of practice. Dufour and Marzano maintain in 'Leaders of Learners' that this change where educators go from working in isolation to working as members of an interdependent collaborative teams is a formidable one. They ask the following question: Why is effective principal leadership so essential for schools to transform from a culture of isolation to a culture of collaboration? I think we would do well to consider the critical role of administrators in leading the way in
ReplyDeleteour AER journey. Angela shared some wonderful activities that she lead her staff in during the PA days. Perhaps this could be a starting point for us in our discuss about HOW to start the re-culturing.