Chapter 5: Assessing Cultural Knowledge Through Shared Personal Practice
I would describe the culture of my school with respect to accountability as a positive school culture. Our staff is always seeking professional feedback in order to find ways to improve, not just on instructional delivery, but also on classroom management. Our staff has not been resistant to being held accountable. We see it as a very normal part of the process.
I describe my attitude and behavior regarding educator accountability as curious about the process that is meant to support us in our field in order to help polish our skills so that we can be as effective as humanly possible resulting in all students achieving high standards.
As I reread Schmoker's (2006) quote:
We can create the most effective generation of leaders ever by redefining and simplifying leadership around the core concepts of professional learning communities. But no one can lead in an environment where differences in practice and learning outcomes are ignored or trivialized. No one can lead where constructive criticism feedback is regarded as an invasion of privacy, an affront to professionalism.
----Schmoker, 2006, p.29
What comes to mind in relation to professionalism at my school is that at our school our staff is always open to suggestions, advice and guidance. We are a staff of transparent learners who support each other through the process and not only do we welcome constructive criticism from each other, we often go around asking for it in order to improve our practice to make our students stronger. We are all aware of our strengths and what we have to offer and we synergize because we know that together is better and we are all part of the puzzle. It's almost as if each person is a specialist in a different area and we are okay with that because it helps lighten up the load and we know who to go to depending on our area of need. Everyone feels comfortable walking into each other's classrooms and seeking support from different colleagues.
Professional success and challenges are shared among teachers, administrators, and other community members through board meetings, staff meetings, district-wide in-services, trainings and meetings, e-mails, in the staff lounge, school bulletin, monthly newsletters, instagram, school district website, Facebook, Ed-Connect, Peach Jar, Schoology, and word of mouth.
Going Deeper With Cultural Proficiency
These are some of the questions that guide my personal, professional work:
*In what ways do I plan and facilitate intentional professional learning to improve student learning?
*In what ways do I continue to learn about my own culture?
*In what ways do I learn about the cultures of our students?
*In what ways do I learn about the organizational cultures that exist within the school (e.g., departmental, grade level, staff-faculty)?
*In what ways do I learn and use differentiated teaching strategies?
*In what ways do I learn and use standards-based assessments to improve instruction?
These are some of the questions that guide my school's professional development plan:
*How do I conduct individual and group assessment?
*In what ways do I develop peer-to-peer support toward specific goals?
*In what ways do we become aware of how I react to the cultures of the students?
*As a learning community, how do we learn about each other and the unique learning needs within our learning community?
*As a learning community, in what ways do we share our understanding of our students' various cultures and their learning needs?
This question would represent a growth experience for me:
*In what ways do I clarify my own beliefs about culture and diversity?
I might benefit from exploring this question so that I am aware of any biases I may have. Becoming conscious of our biases is the first step to correcting them by exploring them further and figuring out why we have those biases to begin with, discovering how that may hurt us throughout our career, and figuring out how it is in no one's best interest for us to have any biases.
This question would guide a growth experience for my school:
*In what ways do I/we learn how the educators and school are viewed from the cultural communities in the school area?
The school might benefit from this question by researching how our staff and school are perceived by the cultural communities in the school area so that we can take steps to close any existing gaps. If we are viewed as a place in which they feel welcomed and comfortable, then we will gain community support which is in the best interest of our students. The more the cultural communities see themselves as a part of our school, the more likely they are to contribute and support activities and ideas that benefit our students' well-being and academic success.
Reflections:
As a community member, being able to detect barrier comments gives me an advantage by recognizing that the person asking such a question might not be aware that their question, or comment, meets the criteria of "barrier question or comment". Therefore, I can step up to the plate and facilitate the situation by restating the question, or comment, in a tone and manner that is more conducive to engaging people in a productive conversation that yields the type of results that are in the best interest of our students.
The possibilities breakthrough questions have for my community and me include providing the platform for productive conversations with the intent of being proactive and igniting curiosity that will bring about results that are in the best interest of our students.
Being more inclusive of parents and students in the learning community might impact the conversation by bringing root causes to the surface that will increase understanding towards our students' situations. Once we understand what is causing certain behavior, then we can better support our students and their families.
The parents and students invited to the table are hopefully the parents and students that the school is hoping to find ways to support because they have proven, in some way or another, to have some sort of need. These parents and students represent diversity of the educational community because now more stakeholders are being included in these important meetings, not just educators. These parents and students represent diversity of the educational community because they contribute a different lens from which to view the issue being addressed. They shed light on the situation from a different perspective that the normal educational community would not have because they are not the ones living through the situation. A learning community might assess their culture by asking themselves if they are including at least one representative from each party involved. All stakeholders must be represented in order to more efficiently meet the needs of the community they serve.
Reflection:
I relate to this vignette because I have always wondered how to support colleagues that are discouraged by a changing demographic. I usually just get annoyed. But now I see that by making them feel valued and pointing out to them everything that they have to contribute to their students, it might help them see their situation through a different lens that encourages them to want to make a positive difference in their students' lives. Teachers and other educators new to our school are usually impressed regarding the climate at my school. We assess our cultural knowledge as part of sharing our personal practice through formal and informal surveys usually e-mailed to us on-line as well as through conversations during professional development meetings.
Going Deeper: 3 Keys
3 Key Learnings:
*You can change the direction a conversation is through the language you choose to use (barrier questions/comments vs. breakthrough questions/comments).
*By being aware of the type of questions/comments being used, you can take control of the situation by rewording the questions/comments in a way that "invite[s] positive thinking and encourage[s] new ideas" (Lindsey et. al, p.65).
*You can support a discouraged colleague by bringing out the best in them.
3 Key Quotes:
*"Educators-helping-educators develop a shared understanding for all staff members' success in meeting the needs of all students becomes the mantra that cascades throughout the schools and district" (Lindsey et. al, p.64).
*"Sometimes, members of the group ask questions and make comments that serve as barriers to moving forward" (Lindsey et. al, p.65).
*"Breakthrough questions have specific characteristics that reduce anxiety and open one's thinking toward possibility" (Lindsey et. al, p.65).
3 Key Questions:
*In the vignette, the young teacher was able to help the veteran teacher see the situation differently because she happened to be one of her students in the past. Would she had been able to help her if they would not have had that connection from the past?
*What other approaches could be used to help veteran teachers regain interest in their job after feeling so discouraged?
*Why don't teachers get partnered up more often, as part of the practice within the profession, so that they can bring out the best in each other?
Thinking of my role as an educator, the information from this chapter causes me to think about my practice by making me more aware now of breakthrough vs. barrier types of conversations. I feel that now I will be able to redirect a conversation once I notice it is no longer being productive. This information causes me to think differently about my school or district by allowing me to be more informed of how I might turn a negative situation into a positive one by capitalizing on my colleagues strengths and helping them see all that they have to offer while being conscious of the language we choose to use during our conversations.
I would describe the culture of my school with respect to accountability as a positive school culture. Our staff is always seeking professional feedback in order to find ways to improve, not just on instructional delivery, but also on classroom management. Our staff has not been resistant to being held accountable. We see it as a very normal part of the process.
I describe my attitude and behavior regarding educator accountability as curious about the process that is meant to support us in our field in order to help polish our skills so that we can be as effective as humanly possible resulting in all students achieving high standards.
As I reread Schmoker's (2006) quote:
We can create the most effective generation of leaders ever by redefining and simplifying leadership around the core concepts of professional learning communities. But no one can lead in an environment where differences in practice and learning outcomes are ignored or trivialized. No one can lead where constructive criticism feedback is regarded as an invasion of privacy, an affront to professionalism.
----Schmoker, 2006, p.29
What comes to mind in relation to professionalism at my school is that at our school our staff is always open to suggestions, advice and guidance. We are a staff of transparent learners who support each other through the process and not only do we welcome constructive criticism from each other, we often go around asking for it in order to improve our practice to make our students stronger. We are all aware of our strengths and what we have to offer and we synergize because we know that together is better and we are all part of the puzzle. It's almost as if each person is a specialist in a different area and we are okay with that because it helps lighten up the load and we know who to go to depending on our area of need. Everyone feels comfortable walking into each other's classrooms and seeking support from different colleagues.
Professional success and challenges are shared among teachers, administrators, and other community members through board meetings, staff meetings, district-wide in-services, trainings and meetings, e-mails, in the staff lounge, school bulletin, monthly newsletters, instagram, school district website, Facebook, Ed-Connect, Peach Jar, Schoology, and word of mouth.
Going Deeper With Cultural Proficiency
These are some of the questions that guide my personal, professional work:
*In what ways do I plan and facilitate intentional professional learning to improve student learning?
*In what ways do I continue to learn about my own culture?
*In what ways do I learn about the cultures of our students?
*In what ways do I learn about the organizational cultures that exist within the school (e.g., departmental, grade level, staff-faculty)?
*In what ways do I learn and use differentiated teaching strategies?
*In what ways do I learn and use standards-based assessments to improve instruction?
These are some of the questions that guide my school's professional development plan:
*How do I conduct individual and group assessment?
*In what ways do I develop peer-to-peer support toward specific goals?
*In what ways do we become aware of how I react to the cultures of the students?
*As a learning community, how do we learn about each other and the unique learning needs within our learning community?
*As a learning community, in what ways do we share our understanding of our students' various cultures and their learning needs?
This question would represent a growth experience for me:
*In what ways do I clarify my own beliefs about culture and diversity?
I might benefit from exploring this question so that I am aware of any biases I may have. Becoming conscious of our biases is the first step to correcting them by exploring them further and figuring out why we have those biases to begin with, discovering how that may hurt us throughout our career, and figuring out how it is in no one's best interest for us to have any biases.
This question would guide a growth experience for my school:
*In what ways do I/we learn how the educators and school are viewed from the cultural communities in the school area?
The school might benefit from this question by researching how our staff and school are perceived by the cultural communities in the school area so that we can take steps to close any existing gaps. If we are viewed as a place in which they feel welcomed and comfortable, then we will gain community support which is in the best interest of our students. The more the cultural communities see themselves as a part of our school, the more likely they are to contribute and support activities and ideas that benefit our students' well-being and academic success.
Reflections:
As a community member, being able to detect barrier comments gives me an advantage by recognizing that the person asking such a question might not be aware that their question, or comment, meets the criteria of "barrier question or comment". Therefore, I can step up to the plate and facilitate the situation by restating the question, or comment, in a tone and manner that is more conducive to engaging people in a productive conversation that yields the type of results that are in the best interest of our students.
The possibilities breakthrough questions have for my community and me include providing the platform for productive conversations with the intent of being proactive and igniting curiosity that will bring about results that are in the best interest of our students.
Being more inclusive of parents and students in the learning community might impact the conversation by bringing root causes to the surface that will increase understanding towards our students' situations. Once we understand what is causing certain behavior, then we can better support our students and their families.
The parents and students invited to the table are hopefully the parents and students that the school is hoping to find ways to support because they have proven, in some way or another, to have some sort of need. These parents and students represent diversity of the educational community because now more stakeholders are being included in these important meetings, not just educators. These parents and students represent diversity of the educational community because they contribute a different lens from which to view the issue being addressed. They shed light on the situation from a different perspective that the normal educational community would not have because they are not the ones living through the situation. A learning community might assess their culture by asking themselves if they are including at least one representative from each party involved. All stakeholders must be represented in order to more efficiently meet the needs of the community they serve.
Reflection:
I relate to this vignette because I have always wondered how to support colleagues that are discouraged by a changing demographic. I usually just get annoyed. But now I see that by making them feel valued and pointing out to them everything that they have to contribute to their students, it might help them see their situation through a different lens that encourages them to want to make a positive difference in their students' lives. Teachers and other educators new to our school are usually impressed regarding the climate at my school. We assess our cultural knowledge as part of sharing our personal practice through formal and informal surveys usually e-mailed to us on-line as well as through conversations during professional development meetings.
Going Deeper: 3 Keys
3 Key Learnings:
*You can change the direction a conversation is through the language you choose to use (barrier questions/comments vs. breakthrough questions/comments).
*By being aware of the type of questions/comments being used, you can take control of the situation by rewording the questions/comments in a way that "invite[s] positive thinking and encourage[s] new ideas" (Lindsey et. al, p.65).
*You can support a discouraged colleague by bringing out the best in them.
3 Key Quotes:
*"Educators-helping-educators develop a shared understanding for all staff members' success in meeting the needs of all students becomes the mantra that cascades throughout the schools and district" (Lindsey et. al, p.64).
*"Sometimes, members of the group ask questions and make comments that serve as barriers to moving forward" (Lindsey et. al, p.65).
*"Breakthrough questions have specific characteristics that reduce anxiety and open one's thinking toward possibility" (Lindsey et. al, p.65).
3 Key Questions:
*In the vignette, the young teacher was able to help the veteran teacher see the situation differently because she happened to be one of her students in the past. Would she had been able to help her if they would not have had that connection from the past?
*What other approaches could be used to help veteran teachers regain interest in their job after feeling so discouraged?
*Why don't teachers get partnered up more often, as part of the practice within the profession, so that they can bring out the best in each other?
Thinking of my role as an educator, the information from this chapter causes me to think about my practice by making me more aware now of breakthrough vs. barrier types of conversations. I feel that now I will be able to redirect a conversation once I notice it is no longer being productive. This information causes me to think differently about my school or district by allowing me to be more informed of how I might turn a negative situation into a positive one by capitalizing on my colleagues strengths and helping them see all that they have to offer while being conscious of the language we choose to use during our conversations.