Starting the Conversation About Education Transformation

If you have been around the education world for a while, you know that most change happens in the following way.  Your principal or administrator makes a decision to go forward with an initiative.  An inservice is provided and you are expected to implement the initiative.  It’s no surprise that this doesn’t work. We know very well that this is not how people learn.  In fact, many of the inservices are about just that.  Eventually, the initiative falls by the wayside while the next initiative comes along.  Traditional PD is will suffice for some things (although I don’t recommend it) but when we are talking about transformation, it simply won’t cut it.

Why Transform Professional Development?

As teachers build experience, they become immune to the changes, knowing they won’t last.  In a study conducted at Stanford University by David S. Yeager and Gregory M. Walton, an observation was made that students internalized messages when the messages were not directly stated.  By that, I mean that the students were not told directly that they were trying to be persuaded in a certain direction.  They were delivered the information in a more “stealthy” way and that made the intervention more palatable.  They were not being tricked but rather the information was presented in a different context, for example, one set of students were given a survey on the information so they simply saw it as a survey not an attempt to persuade.  This method worked for students and students are learners.  Teachers are also learners so it makes sense that the same would hold true for them.

Professional Development That Leads to Lasting Transformation

Again, I am not suggesting that we should trick people but rather that humans learn by constructing their own meaning.  So, in order to implement change, administrators and teacher leaders need to be sensitive to this.  Providing genuine opportunities for teachers to explore ideas before they are required to make changes is an important step to the change itself.  This will have a direct impact  on whether or not a new initiative or innovation will last.  Making change requires shifts in belief systems and this can mean changing deeply entrenched ideas. Providing members of a community with information that really gets them thinking about their beliefs and practice is one way to start these conversations.  I want to be clear that I am suggesting that exposing teachers to information can get the conversations started but the conversations are critical.  Just providing the resources is not enough.  Opportunities to discuss and apply the concepts is an important part of changing attitudes and creating shared beliefs.

Books to get people talking

Mindset, by Carol Dweck is a book our school started with last year.  The ideas resonate with just about everyone.  Dweck describes the difference between having a growth mindset, a belief that intelligence is not innate and a fixed mindset, a belief that intelligence is, well, fixed.  There are so many examples of this and most individuals can think of a time when they exceeded their own expectations.  She argues that mindset alone can have a strong impact on achievement.  Many of the strategies are very easy to implement and require zero planning, which is a huge plus for busy teachers.

Fair isn’t always equal by Rick Wormeli really gets people thinking about how to create a culture where students can receive different interventions in the same classroom based on their needs.  He addresses many of the issues that come up about assessment and grading in a differentiated classroom.

Both On Your Mark, by Thomas Guskey and Grading  Smarter, Not Harder by Myron Dueck will get anyone to reconsider their grading practices.  Also, Ken O’Conner’s list of 15 grading fixes almost always gets a conversation going.

Videos to Get People Talking

If your faculty isn’t ready for a whole book or you want to introduce ideas in smaller its, do a quick google search for Sir Ken Robinson and you will find numerous videos that will no doubt get people chatting.  My favorite is a quick animation on changing education paradigms with a background lecture. Rick Wormeli also has a series of videos where he responds to questions about grading.  This one, on zeros and the 100 point scale, is a good example.

Magic Professional Development?

Like Yeager and Walton point out, this isn’t magic.  Don’t expect miracles from these conversations; expect it to get messy.  That is part of the process.  If things do get messy, it is a sign that there is a culture of learning rather than a culture of compliance.  This is an important culture for change.  Embrace the struggle, the questions, the resistance and encourage those who are engaging to continue to engage, question and look for answers.  Provide opportunities and structures for hashing out these ideas.  Check out these protocols for framing discussions on tough issues. Protocols can really help discussions stay productive.  And, if there is a book, post or video that got you thinking, please post it in the comments section so we can build resources.