- How do you intend to bring the global community into your classroom?
- How will you prepare students for a future that is relatively unknown?
- How you will eliminate the racial predictability of achievement outcomes in your classroom?
The first two questions raise concerns for me because Scott goes on to say - We should be asking teachers and principals that question more often (and just that directly). Yes, we should, but is it the responsibility of teachers and principals at the building level to identify what students need to learn and how to make this happen in classrooms? Do teachers have the time, knowledge, and skill to create the units and lessons that are aligned with state standards, that are process and skill focused, that provide problem solving opportunities, that include collaborative projects, that provide for information literacy and technology fluency learning opportunities, that . . .?
More simply, do teachers want to write curriculum or do they want to focus on teaching? In our district we have been at both extremes of this continuum and I have come to believe that it is best for teachers and students if the primary responsibility for this is in the district's Teaching and Learning Department. I have also come to understand how difficult this work is, how fortunate we are to have Nancy, and that teachers must be directly involved in the development and review of this work.
I believe that teachers want to teach and not have to always be responsible for determining what content and skills will I cover tomorrow, next week, and next month. Over the course of a year this takes tremendous energy and time and does not result in consistency between classrooms and buildings.
It was interesting to follow the recent Bellevue strike where autonomy over lessons was one of the issues. I don't have much detail about this, but I know it has led to conversations in our system about the model we are using. Do are teachers have similar concerns?
Do you agree or disagree with my belief that teachers do not want to be curriculum writers, they want to focus on teaching?
8 comments:
I would have to disagree. I've taught 8 different preps in my 5 years of teaching (including this year) and one of my favorite parts of teaching is coming up with lessons. And oddly: writing notes sets, powerpoints, and other assignments.
This is the first year that I've ever even had a textbook to teach from and I mostly use it as supplemental learning. In fact, the UW professor for this new class I'm teaching prepackaged basically all the curriculum for the course so that I wouldn't have to write my own--but I still find myself adding additional lessons that I find more kid-relevant and interesting. But of course I'd find my own lessons more interesting, right?
I really enjoy sharing my materials with other teachers too, which is difficult when you teach such specific electives. I have a number of Computer Science contacts that have taken my materials to use in their classroom.
The problem is that writing curriculum is time consuming. But I like writing curriculum and having control over how I teach.
I think you'll find that most teachers, particularly at the secondary level, would disagree. I find it ironic that this post was inspired by the "Dangerously Irrelevant" blog, because I (and many others I work with) would feel that is exactly what our teaching would become if we lost all control over curriculum. When teachers have no control over what they teach, the content will inevitably become stale, stagnant, and unresponsive to the needs of the diverse individuals we call students. It also eliminates the option to experiment with new ideas, new instructional methods, and even new technologies. And if our goal is to focus on 21st century skills (or Outcomes and Indicators) rather than content, why is it so crucial to teach the exact same content across the board?
When many of the secondary teachers in our district (and, I can confidently say, all of the teachers in my department) read something like this, and when we hear about curriculum binders with scripted lessons, we worry that we will lose all of the things mentioned above. And for good teachers who are committed to providing their students the best possible education they can provide, this is a scary thing. To remove teachers' ability to be creative and innovative seems to contradict the goals of our district - in fact, teacher innovation seems to be what has made this district so successful. We may also find that when teachers lose the ability to create and innovate in their own classrooms (which most of us share in with our colleagues), they will seek out a place where they will be allowed to do so.
All that said, there is certainly a balance to be sought after. Students in Class A should certainly have the same opportunities to learn as students in Class B – the same skills being developed, the same opportunities to use technology, and so on. There are many positive learning experiences that we can all participate in. There are many other ways to find consistency without having T&L mandate curriculum to teachers – even consistency within a grade level and a department is still consistency, and it is something that can be achieved by allowing professionals, who are extensively trained in their profession, to collaborate with each other and reach a consensus of their own. Does this require more time and effort? Absolutely. But there are a lot of reasons this is not an easy profession, and we knew this when we signed up.
Well put, thehurt. Some (I'd like to say lazy--but maybe that's too harsh) teachers might be happy to have curriculum spoon fed to them, but a number of us would not.
thehurt,
Thanks for sharing. It will be interesting to see if we get some additional responses. As you suggest, balance will be the key.
Do you believe that all teachers enter our profession trained in identifying scope and sequence needs within and between grade levels to ensure that learning is aligned with what the students will be held accountable to know and do? This alignment is difficult to achieve from our history. With good support I agree with your comments concerning the lesson design, but it does take considerable time.
One of the ironies of our efforts is that the units being developed are doing exactly what you describe in your first paragraph, using new instructional methods and technologies. For some it will not be new, but for many it will.
Again, thanks for sharing. As with the last time you commented it gives me much to consider.
Mike
I absolutely value developing lessons with my teaching team. I think we do some of our best work when we collaborate. We feed off the best of each other and come up with some pretty amazing work. Often we teach something and then through conversation and feedback we realize what did and didn't work. We adjust and come up with something better still. A lesson or curriculum should not be stagnant.
I think curriculum works best as the guideline in which teachers create. Teachers know best how to get the content to their students, realizing each class, each year is unique. If our students all get to the same place, does it matter how each class gets there?
Thanks for your kind words. To answer your first question, no, I certainly do not think teachers enter the profession completely prepared for creating beautifully aligned curriculum. Nor do I think teachers enter the profession ready to handle every management problem they'll encounter, ready to communicate with a diverse group of parents, etc. I know I certainly wasn't completely prepared for all of these things when I began.
However, as with management, parent communication, and other aspects of teaching, designing great lessons is a skill that we develop through learning, collaboration, and most importantly, experience.
I should clarify that I appreciate the efforts that have been made with the curriculum binders. I appreciate that they are created by teachers (in collaboration with T&L). I think this process is beneficial for all involved I appreciate that they try to give us practical examples of Classroom 10. The fear teachers have when we hear about these binders is that they will not be guides or reference material, but will become mandated curriculum.
As you said, it's all about balance, and I think that balance is going to be found in the tension between T&L's desire for a consistent curriculum and teachers' desire for autonomy. One thing I did learn from experience: tension is not always a bad thing. :)
thehurt,
Yes, I agree with the tension comment. For change and learnig to take place there must be some creative tension present. It is the emotional tension that pushes us to learn new things and acquire new skills.
I look forward to the system finding balance as it relates to curriculum implemenation.
I think that teachers want to teach while also having some autonomy in what they are teaching to children. Teachers do enjoy creating curriculum in some instances and then in other instances they do not. I think more than anything teachers want to be able to make things their own, whether it is supplementing or adjusting pre-packaged curriculum or being able to have a voice in changes to curriculum that is being created by the Teaching and Learning department. The one complaint that seems to come up is that a teacher finds something wrong with curriculum or they are doing something better but they do not always have an avenue to share their concern. Because of this I think teachers turn away from the "given curriculum" and go back to their old ways because they feel their is no avenue to influence. Lastly, when you discuss creative tension I think that most teachers feel that what they are doing for students is the best thing for them and they feel that because the T&L department is not in the classroom that they are disconnected from the reality of the actual classroom. These are the things that I hear from teachers in my work. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this Mike. I do not believe we have the same discontent that we have heard from Bellevue because we are not that scripted but the concerns I stated are alive and real. Thanks.
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