After reading March's Educational Leadership: Closing the Implementation Gap, I began to look at my own school's goals in a new light. Last semester, I had to decipher the culture of my school based on interviews and surveys that I had given the teachers. What was so surprising is that the teachers had a very different opinion about the school than the administrators. I wonder if this is often the case. The administrators are seen as the visionaries and change agents and the teachers resist the change and make decisions from day to day. Does the difficulty in our schools lie in miscommunication between teachers and administrators or teachers and students? Are we all really working toward the same goal?
I tried to look a little deeper at this situation. As a teacher, I set goals for my students every day, week, and month. I look for assessments that match my goals, and these assessments are usually attainable (as are the goals). When you take this to the school level, principals set goals for the year. Should administrators start to focus on short term goals? This article discusses strategies that can be used to "bring implementation closer to reality."
The first strategy is to create "short-term wins". In other words, create a plan that can be completed in the first few weeks of school. The second suggestion is to "recognize effective practices simply and clearly throughout the year." The final two strategies include "emphasizing effectiveness, not popularity" and "appeal to the values" of teachers. As I read this, I started to realize that this is more like the way teachers plan lessons or units of study.
Teachers create situations that enable "short-term wins". For example, I will give students an easier problem to start with before trying the more challenging ones. I want them to feel what success is before they give up completely. Teachers also recognize "effective practices" within the classroom. I have often heard myself saying "I like the way you are showing your work Bobby," or "That work looks great, Sue." As a teacher I will even "emphasize effectiveness", emphasizing what makes the classroom run in the most efficient manner. This is sometimes different than what students are used to in a traditional classroom, and can cause some resistance. And I always try to "appeal to the values" of the students in my class. If they feel a connection with the material they are vested in learning more. This article really reflects what teachers do everyday, at least what I do every day in the classroom. I think sometimes administrators lose sight of what it was like as a teacher. But the really great administrators never forget.
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2 comments:
I think your strategy of creating "short term wins" is great. I feel that student should experience success initially. In terms of administrators and teachers it does seem that there are differences in opinions. I do feel that teachers need “short term wins” as well. I can't remember the last time we as a department made a goal and felt a sense of accomplishment.
I thought that that article was interesting as well, especially in light of the past few months at my school. The staff at my school has had really low morale this year and much of it is due to the fact that we have a relatively new principal who is very different from our past principal. She is not one of those inherently pleasant people although she knows what needs to get done and does it well. Some members of the staff got together with her and shared some of our concerns (something that nobody really wanted to do!) and since then the transformation has been amazing. The principal praises us more often now and, like the article stated, she has been working towards those "short term wins." It really does make a difference.
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