Please read Chapter 3 in the Vogt and Shearer text. Consider the vignette carefully and respond to the Thinking POints on page 44. How can Janet's experiences help you navigate the beginning opf a literacy team in your school?
Nobody is on the same page in Janet's school. The first thing Janet needs to do is map out the current situation. To do this, she should interview the principal and the teachers (separately) to find out what each of them thinks is working well and what each of them thinks needs to change. She should be non-judgmental in this work. If she listens carefully she will discover the dynamics of the school and will begin to draw her own conclusions about what is working and what is not. She should then analyze this information and present her findings to the principal to flesh out his or her vision. This will help her develop a long-term plan to coordinate the literacy work more effectively.
Janet's task does not seem very different from any other leadership effort to objectively determine what is working and what is not. I plan on doing similar work in my school this fall. Of the six members of my literacy team, two have left the school and one has not been here since last April due to family illness. As a result, I plan on spending some time this summer and early fall trying to figure out what we accomplished last year and what we need to do this year. It seems to me that you cannot go forward until you know where you are...
While I agree that the staff at Janet’s school does not seem to be on the same page, I wonder if the politicization of phonics is getting in the way of honest and thoughtful dialogue. As Vogt and Shearer suggest “teachers make many assumptions about how reading and writing should be taught (p. 44).” The question of how best to teach reading gets us all fired up and yet, I would guess this staff has not talked about what they hope good readers would like at the end of schooling. My guess is that there would be more agreement there.
I think their first discussions should focus on their hopes and dreams for their students as literate graduates of their elementary school. It makes sense to bring groups from all sectors of the school- Spanish-speaking, native speakers, Southeast Asian- American parents, veteran staff, and new staff in focus groups to begin to discuss this issue with very clear expectations for group dynamics.
Once some commonalities or a common vision could be articulated, then the work of deciding which standards would move children towards these goals and what evidence would show whether children were meeting the benchmarks could begin. The staff’s inability to provide specific information to support their claims suggests that data and assessments are not being used effectively to make judgments about children’s performance. I think the critical piece with this staff is that they are not looking at student work and expected criteria. By shifting this paradigm, my hope would be that the staff would develop a more collaborative culture. I would not want to be a leader who envisions solving the debate, but rather a leader who can help its staff relate to each other with students at the center.
As for my own school, I do see facilitation of honest dialogue as a critical component of my job. Our best conversations come out when we are looking at student. Maintaining that nonjudgmental role, taking fastidious notes so that all voices feel heard, and communicating ideas back has helped some of our teams find common ground. This fall will usher in more opportunities for teachers to look at student work and outcomes. Much of this work is planned at grade level team meetings. I think it will be critical to pull a larger literacy team together as well so that the school maintains vertical cohesiveness.
Thinking Points pg 44 1. Janet should ask the principal about his/her vision for literate children. She could ask the teachers the same question - as Shawn notes, she needs to take time to assess, so her immediate response to 'what these kids need is..." for us as teachers and administrators (leaders all) to gather some really good information and get a clearer picture before we start changing the way we teach and the resourses we invest in. The core issues to confront: lack of leadership, a dynamic of veteran VS new teachers and synthetic phonics vs literature rich 'whole language' instruction, I agree with Jill that this becomes a political battle ground. The either/or appraoch rarely works for anything. I also suspect, given the details on the school population, that the greatest core issue for the kids may be a limited amount of exposure to a print rich environment. so, long term measures: lots of observation and assessment by literacy teams built of new and veteran teachers and resources allocated to the vareity of print media that will create a rich environment. How does Janet's experience inform mine? I suspect that i fly solo too much as I navigate the terrain. I sit in my office and get lots of people wanting answers. I need to take my own advice and ask more questions. additionaly, i had no clear goal. i think that when my goals are clear i do a good job pulling folks together. However, the goals would be even better and easier to meet if folks helped set the goals - then everyone really is clear. it is paradox really - a leader needs to be able to strike out alone in a direction yet allow people to help form the direction and lead the way too. weird. all of life's most important truths are paradoxes.
Once again there is an underlying issue here of an ambivalent principal. When Janet is given by the Principal the task of "negotiating the difference" between old and young teachers with very different training, background, and beliefs, she is being set up for failure. I wonder if the principal in that vignette is on the literacy team. If not, why not?
A related problem is the apparent culture of the school that does not place much value on data or evidence. Almost certainly, that is a cultural issue that is not confined to the literacy program. It must extend deeper. Hence, tackling that culture issue is also a leadership problem that requires principal leadership.
The major learning that comes out of this vignette for me is that I must be pretty clear and fair in my expectations for my literacy teacher. A big part of my job will be to absorb the heat--and not send her into the furnace!
4 comments:
Nobody is on the same page in Janet's school. The first thing Janet needs to do is map out the current situation. To do this, she should interview the principal and the teachers (separately) to find out what each of them thinks is working well and what each of them thinks needs to change. She should be non-judgmental in this work. If she listens carefully she will discover the dynamics of the school and will begin to draw her own conclusions about what is working and what is not. She should then analyze this information and present her findings to the principal to flesh out his or her vision. This will help her develop a long-term plan to coordinate the literacy work more effectively.
Janet's task does not seem very different from any other leadership effort to objectively determine what is working and what is not. I plan on doing similar work in my school this fall. Of the six members of my literacy team, two have left the school and one has not been here since last April due to family illness. As a result, I plan on spending some time this summer and early fall trying to figure out what we accomplished last year and what we need to do this year. It seems to me that you cannot go forward until you know where you are...
While I agree that the staff at Janet’s school does not seem to be on the same page, I wonder if the politicization of phonics is getting in the way of honest and thoughtful dialogue. As Vogt and Shearer suggest “teachers make many assumptions about how reading and writing should be taught (p. 44).” The question of how best to teach reading gets us all fired up and yet, I would guess this staff has not talked about what they hope good readers would like at the end of schooling. My guess is that there would be more agreement there.
I think their first discussions should focus on their hopes and dreams for their students as literate graduates of their elementary school. It makes sense to bring groups from all sectors of the school- Spanish-speaking, native speakers, Southeast Asian- American parents, veteran staff, and new staff in focus groups to begin to discuss this issue with very clear expectations for group dynamics.
Once some commonalities or a common vision could be articulated, then the work of deciding which standards would move children towards these goals and what evidence would show whether children were meeting the benchmarks could begin. The staff’s inability to provide specific information to support their claims suggests that data and assessments are not being used effectively to make judgments about children’s performance. I think the critical piece with this staff is that they are not looking at student work and expected criteria. By shifting this paradigm, my hope would be that the staff would develop a more collaborative culture. I would not want to be a leader who envisions solving the debate, but rather a leader who can help its staff relate to each other with students at the center.
As for my own school, I do see facilitation of honest dialogue as a critical component of my job. Our best conversations come out when we are looking at student. Maintaining that nonjudgmental role, taking fastidious notes so that all voices feel heard, and communicating ideas back has helped some of our teams find common ground. This fall will usher in more opportunities for teachers to look at student work and outcomes. Much of this work is planned at grade level team meetings. I think it will be critical to pull a larger literacy team together as well so that the school maintains vertical cohesiveness.
Thinking Points pg 44
1. Janet should ask the principal about his/her vision for literate children. She could ask the teachers the same question - as Shawn notes, she needs to take time to assess, so her immediate response to 'what these kids need is..." for us as teachers and administrators (leaders all) to gather some really good information and get a clearer picture before we start changing the way we teach and the resourses we invest in.
The core issues to confront: lack of leadership, a dynamic of veteran VS new teachers and synthetic phonics vs literature rich 'whole language' instruction, I agree with Jill that this becomes a political battle ground. The either/or appraoch rarely works for anything. I also suspect, given the details on the school population, that the greatest core issue for the kids may be a limited amount of exposure to a print rich environment.
so, long term measures: lots of observation and assessment by literacy teams built of new and veteran teachers and resources allocated to the vareity of print media that will create a rich environment.
How does Janet's experience inform mine? I suspect that i fly solo too much as I navigate the terrain. I sit in my office and get lots of people wanting answers. I need to take my own advice and ask more questions. additionaly, i had no clear goal. i think that when my goals are clear i do a good job pulling folks together. However, the goals would be even better and easier to meet if folks helped set the goals - then everyone really is clear.
it is paradox really - a leader needs to be able to strike out alone in a direction yet allow people to help form the direction and lead the way too. weird. all of life's most important truths are paradoxes.
Once again there is an underlying issue here of an ambivalent principal. When Janet is given by the Principal the task of "negotiating the difference" between old and young teachers with very different training, background, and beliefs, she is being set up for failure. I wonder if the principal in that vignette is on the literacy team. If not, why not?
A related problem is the apparent culture of the school that does not place much value on data or evidence. Almost certainly, that is a cultural issue that is not confined to the literacy program. It must extend deeper. Hence, tackling that culture issue is also a leadership problem that requires principal leadership.
The major learning that comes out of this vignette for me is that I must be pretty clear and fair in my expectations for my literacy teacher. A big part of my job will be to absorb the heat--and not send her into the furnace!
Post a Comment