Transcript Working Strategically: Focus Questions

“Reinventing” Teaching
Tony Wagner, Co-Director
Change Leadership Group
Harvard University, Graduate School of Education
[email protected]
www.gse.harvard.edu/clg
© Copyright 2006 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University
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“The formulation of the problem is often more
essential than the solution.” Einstein
If it ain’t broke,
don’t fix it!
Their schools are
the problem, not
ours!
What is the “crisis” in
American public
education really all
about—what’s the
“problem”?
High
School
reform is
just
another
fad.
Incremental change is the
only way to go
© Copyright 2006 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University
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The New Educational Challenges:
“The Rock & The Hard Place”
• The Rock: NEW SKILLS for Work, Continuous Learning & Citizenship in a
“knowledge society” for ALL STUDENTS
– Convergence of skills needed for work, citizenship, & further learning: (e.g.
communication, analysis, problem-solving, ability to work collaboratively)
– Students lacking skills relegated to marginal employment & citizenship
• The Hard Place: Students less motivated by traditional incentives
– Less fear and respect for authority
– Less belief in delayed gratification & hard work=success
– Kids multitasking in a multimedia world—everywhere except in school
– Kids growing up “home alone:” Increased isolation from adults
• Re-Framing the Problem: Reform vs. Reinvention
– We do not know how to teach ALL students NEW skills. This is a new education
challenge and societal aspiration that requires development of new
professional knowledge, new school structures, and new ways of working
together.
© Copyright 2006 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University
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The “Basics” Perception Gap
100%
80%
77%
74%
66%
60%
39%
40%
33%
20%
0%
Students
Teachers
Parents
Employers
Professors
% saying a high school diploma means students have learned the basics (PAF
Reality Check 2002)
© Copyright 2006 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University
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A “Theory of Change”
• Students’ will not meet the performance standards for
success in college and work unless and until teaching
improves. More academic content standards, more
testing, smaller schools, etc. do not, by themselves,
improve teaching or students’ skills.
• Teachers working alone, with little or no feedback on their
instruction, will not be able to improve significantly—no
matter how much professional development they receive.
• The challenge of change leadership is to create a
“system” for continuous improvement of instruction and
supervision—rooted in a common vision of effective
teaching.
© Copyright 2006 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University
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Teaching Video Discussion
• How would you grade the quality of
this lesson (A—E)
• What is your evidence for this
assessment?
© Copyright 2006 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University
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Excellent Instruction: A Point of View
Excellent instruction is less about what a teacher
does (inputs) and more about what students know
and can do as a result of the lesson (results).
• The Purpose of the Lesson: Coverage versus
Competencies
• The Assessment: Content Standards versus
Performance Standards
• The Challenge: Defining and “Benchmarking” the
Critical Performance Standards for Our Students
© Copyright 2006 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University
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Re-Defining “Rigor”:
Discussion Questions
• What is your definition of rigor?
• How might the definition of rigor be changing
in the “Age of Google?”
• What are teachers doing in a more rigorous
classroom?
• What are students doing?
• What kinds of student work would be
evidence of rigor?
© Copyright 2006 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University
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Benchmarking Rigor: Work/College Skills
Public Agenda Foundation “Reality Check” 2002 http://publicagenda.org/specials/rcheck2002/reality5.htm
Percent of Employers & Professors giving high school grads “poor” or “fair” ratings on:
100%
80%
73%75%
74%
69%
60%
72%
58%
63%65%
53%51%
49%
37%
curiosity
respect
40%
20%
0%
writing
work
habits
motivation basic math
skills
Employers
Professors
© Copyright 2006 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University
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Benchmarking Rigor: College View of What is Needed
College professors’ views of the skills students lack:
70% say students do not comprehend complex reading materials
66% say students cannot think analytically
65% say students lack appropriate work and study habits
62% say students write poorly
59% say students don’t know how to do research
55% say students can’t apply what they’ve learned to solve
problems
2005 Achieve Inc. http://www.achieve.org/files/pollreport.pdf
© Copyright 2006 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University
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Recent Grads Summary of What They Need
• Writing skills
• Study skills and time management
• Research skills
• Study group experience
What would your graduates say?
© Copyright 2006 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University
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Benchmarking and Assessing Rigor:
Foundational Skills for College
• Writing
• Reasoning
• Analytic Thinking
• Problem-solving
http://ceprnet.uoregon.edu
http://ceprnet.uoregon.edu/cepr.samples.php
***
The Collegiate Learning Assessment
http://www.cae.org/content/pro_collegiate.htm#
© Copyright 2006 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University
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Rigor in The Classroom: 5 “Habits of Mind”
Learning to Ask The Right Questions
• Weighing Evidence
– How do we know what’s true and false? What is the evidence, and is it
credible?
• Awareness of Varying Viewpoints
– What viewpoint are we hearing? Who is the author, and what are his or
her intentions? How might it look to someone with a different history?
• Seeing Connections/Cause & Effect
– Is there a pattern? How are things connected? Where have we seen this
before?
• Speculating on Possibilities/Conjecture
– What if? Supposing that? Can we imagine alternatives?
• Assessing Value—Both Socially and Personally
– What difference does it make? Who cares? So what?
From www.missionhillschool.org
© Copyright 2006 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University
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Teaching Video Discussion 2
Calibrating Rigor
• How would you assess the level of rigor in
this lesson (low, medium, high)?
• What is your evidence for this
assessment?
© Copyright 2006 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University
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“Reinventing” How We Work Together:
Creating “Communities of Practice”
• For Teachers/Counselors:
– Work in small groups to analyze “problems of practice” ie. looking at
individual students, student work, teacher work and case studies
– Developing lessons collaboratively
– Observing one another teach/advise and peer coaching
• For Principals
– Share and critique draft School Improvement Plans
– Discuss “problems of practice” and real “case studies” of teacher
supervision; role-play supervision conferences with teachers
– Plan “problem-solving” faculty meetings and seek feedback from teachers
• For Central Office
– Discuss “problems of practice” and real “case studies” of school and
principal supervision; role-play supervision conferences with principals
– Plan “problem-solving” Admin meetings and seek feedback from principals
and other staff on meetings as models of good teaching/learning
© Copyright 2006 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University
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Possible Action Steps
• Discuss and define “rigor” with your faculty,
students, and parents
• Do “Learning Walks” to “calibrate” your
assessment of rigor
• Conduct focus groups with your recent grades to
determine ways in which they were most and
least well prepared
• Consider administering the Collegiate Learning
Assessment to a sample of your 12th graders to
assess “college and work-ready” competencies
© Copyright 2006 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University
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Some “Learning Walk” Purposes
•
Professional Development for administrators: gaining
greater clarity and consistency in observing teaching
(reminder: communicate to teachers that this is not a
form of individual teacher evaluation!)
•
Auditing the overall level of instruction in a building
•
Developing system or building-wide Professional
Development priorities
•
Monitoring impact of Professional Development and
progress towards agreed-upon goals for teachers i.e.
“evidence-based” professional development!
© Copyright 2006 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University
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Implications for Change Leadership
We do not know how to teach “all students new skills.” The
problem of “reinvention” requires the development of a
“knowledge-generating” culture and new leadership skills.
New Roles for School Leaders:
1) Ask the right questions, instead of having to have all the
answers: POWERFUL QUESTIONS DRIVE LEARNING AND
DEEP LEARNING DRIVES CHANGE
2) Resist being ‘reactive’: Stay focused on improving teaching!
3) Model the behaviors you want to encourage, such as seeking
feedback, trust, & respect
4) Create “communities of practice” for improving teaching,
leadership and collaborative problem-solving
© Copyright 2006 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University
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Sources/Resources/Further Readings
• Tony Wagner, Change Leadership: A Practical Guide for Transforming Our
Schools (JosseyBass, 2005) and Making The Grade: Reinventing America’s
Schools (New York: RoutledgeFalmer, 2001.) See also:
www.schoolchange.org and a video on focus groups: “Creating
Community Consensus: Dialogues for Learning & Engagement”
http://www.seattleschools.org/area/ibc/tw.xml and “Listening to Student
Voices: What Schools Must Do To Succeed”
http://www.smallschoolsproject.org/index.asp?siteloc=resource&section=g
atesv
***
• Anthony S. Bryk and Barbara Schneider, Trust in Schools: A Core
Resource for Improvement (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2002)
• John Kotter, The Heart of Change (Cambridge: HBS Press, 2002)
• Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Reed Larson, Being Adolescent: Conflict and
Growth in the Teenage Years (New York: Basic Books, 1984)
• Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence (New York: Bantam, 1995.)
• Ron Heifetz, Leadership On The Line (Cambridge: Harvard Business
School Press, 2002)
© Copyright 2006 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University
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Sources/Resources/Further Readings
(cont.)
• Deborah Meier, The Power of Their Ideas (Boston: Beacon Press, 1996) &
In Schools We Trust (Beacon, 2002)
• Richard Murnane and Frank Levy, Teaching The New Basic Skills, (New
York: The Free Press, 1996,) & The New Division of Labor (Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 2004)
• Public Agenda Foundation, “Where We Are Now: 12 Things you Need to
Know About Public Opinion & Public Schools” (www.publicagenda.org)
• Robert Putman, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American
Community (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2000)
• James W. Stigler & James Hiebert, The Teaching Gap, (New York: Free
Press, 1999)
• Wenger, E., & Snyder, W.M., “Communities of Practice: The Organizational
Frontier,” Harvard Business Review, January 2000
• Urban Academy Videos--Ann Cook, Series Editor
http://www.teacherscollegepress.com/teachertoteacher.html
© Copyright 2006 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University
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