Posted on 04 March 2011 - 4:27 PM
We started identifying our priority school achievement issues at the Lead Team Day on 2/3/11 and need to continue this discussion to move closer to identifying focus areas for the KC.
So where are you at in your schools and what does this mean for us as cluster??
We spent time at the Lead Team Day discussing our school's priority achievement issues and saw how easy it was to jump straight to reasons or solutions to the problems before really checking that we do indeed have a problem. This comes back to the question of evidence...what teacher practices are contributing to the problem and how do we know that? what is our evidence?
Can we please begin a discussion here - each school please post their priority achievement problem and tell us what achievement evidence confirms this as a problem. We can then begin to tease these out a bit more.
On our next day with Professor Jeffrey Smith, we will take an hour of the day to further this and also identify the positive competencies that surround our problems.
Comment by Bruce Henderson on 17 March 2011 - 9:21 AM:
I wonder if anyone else feels the same as I do about the Helen Timperley day? After several hours of being “lectured at”, I felt quite depressed, certainly not enlightened. I’m sure her research is thorough and accurate, but I’m not comfortable with the fundamentally negative stance it portrayed. It seemed to me that it was just another part of the government’s “blame the teachers” attitude.
The key “situation analysis” sheet is very “problem”-focused –what are the achievement problems, what are the teachers doing wrong, why are they doing it wrong?
The word "problem" bothers me. It's in the nature of teaching and learning that no system is ever perfect -it will constantly require tweaking and altering, what works brilliantly one day is a dismal failure the next. That doesn't mean there's a problem.
Yes we should question our practice. Yes we should use data to look at where we might do things better. Yes we should always be seeking to improve. But I do believe that constantly talking about "problems" is demotivating and demoralising for teachers, and leaves us trying to address things from a negative start point. Not healthy for us, and not productive for children.
By contrast, a couple of days ago we had a “where are the gaps?” session at a staff meeting. Teachers were lively, motivated, contributing and debating priorities and possible strategies.
We have a lot to celebrate. Professional, hardworking teachers in one of the best education systems in the world. A role model for other countries, who follow our lead in programmes such as Reading Recovery. A modern, innovative curriculum, albeit battered by National Standards.
Which strategy will produce the best outcomes for children –one that builds on the positive, or one that focuses on the negative?
Comment by Kaye Brunton on 01 April 2011 - 10:14 AM:
Thanks Bruce - what do others think??
Comment by Rana Te Maro on 04 April 2011 - 10:14 AM:
I understand the basis for the comments made by Bruce but I'd like to forward a different perspective. We are discerning adults and choose to take on board the bits we like, challenge and possibly bin the bits we don't like. I readily admit that there several moments during the presentation where I "tuned out" as I did not fully believe that what was being presented was indicative of what was going on at our school. However, I was interested in the overall theme. Yes, like Bruce, I think we are hammered with negative comments and connotations. No, I don't think most of them are warranted. Not a single teacher that I know is satisfied when a child does not meet our own expectations so we strive constantly to fill the gaps. I viewed the PD with Helen Timperley as a reminder of the things we strive to do each and every day and by the end of the session was quite bouyant with this "refocus" of ideas.
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