As student assessment results, teacher effectiveness ratings, school system rankings, and etc. are released, scrutinized, and debated; a fundamental question must be asked. “What will be different next year?”
Like most, if not all, school system leaders, I, too, anxiously waited for results knowing full well that on several layers, I would have to provide explanations – not excuses for our performance. The span of human emotion is experienced most of which are devoid of the purpose, intent, and mission of education.
The general population has and continues to be mislead on how learning is assessed. The narrowly defined accountability system has distorted the quality, import, and utility of learning by assuming that these and more can be judged by a test. Suffice; the assessment argument is better left for another day.
My intent is to get after the central question, as a result of these assessments, what will be different next year?
Two words – Shift Change!
From my perspective, improving education begins and ends with the quality of instruction. At the end of the day, the most powerful interactions in education are between teachers and learners. Oft forgotten at this time of year are the influence, impact, and intelligence each teacher has gained over the past year of, for and by each of their learners.
These critical understandings are not communicated through end of course and end of grade assessment results. In fact, the results of these assessments yield very little information with respect to the trust capital and relational capacity teachers and learners build with one another during the course of the year.
From my perspective, a huge omission occurs every year. That is, the absence of intentional, deliberate, and meaningful transfers of both knowledge as well as wisdom from teacher to teacher about “how” each learner learns. It is essential to be aware, understand, and apply knowledge about what motivates, engages, inspires, challenges, excites, and stretches each learner. Moreover, it is important to know what doesn’t.
Imagine therefore, taking time to review each learner – they’re learning strengths and opportunities rather than just test scores. Making time to collaborate what has been learned about the learner.
In many respects, this form of knowledge exchange is akin to the interaction of nurses during a shift change. The nurse rotating off shift is responsible to organize, assess, analyze, and note specific and vital information about each patient for the nurse rotating on shift. This “report” if you will, contains not just information but knowledge that will assist the new nurse with continuing care – care that is personalized to the patient. This knowledge exchange happens on every shift change so nurses are both preparing and receiving knowledge continuously.
Teachers will embrace this practice if the leadership gives permission to do so. Haven’t we learned “the pig doesn’t get fatter by constantly weighing it”?
It must be the leaders that give permission to teachers to rethink, reorganize, and repurpose time to intentionally reflect and review each learner. Lest you think me idealistic, I know full well the time constraints placed on our teachers.
What I am suggesting is using time differently.
Teachers are masterful in being creative if we give them permission to do so. One of the most powerful first steps is asking teachers how they would do this? The second is asking each learner what is important for your teacher to know about how you learn, what motivates you, what inspires you, etc. and let teachers reflect and review on what their learners share.
I will go so far to say that reflecting and reviewing each learner’s strengths and opportunities about “how” they learn not just what they learned will yield far greater impact on end of grade and end of course assessments than before.
Think how about this kind of knowledge exchange could be, should, and would be valuable to both the teacher and the learner.
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