Comments on: Essay #1 Getting to Scale with Good Educational Practice http://stratereaders.kucrl.org/2007/01/04/essay-1-getting-to-scale-with-good-educational-practice/ A Book Discussion Group Fri, 05 Sep 2008 20:59:05 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.3 by: Sue Woodruff http://stratereaders.kucrl.org/2007/01/04/essay-1-getting-to-scale-with-good-educational-practice/#comment-2272 Sat, 10 Feb 2007 17:28:09 +0000 http://stratereaders.kucrl.org/2007/01/04/essay-1-getting-to-scale-with-good-educational-practice/#comment-2272 This is not an easy book to read. However, as I read this book and took time to reflect and think about the ideas presented, I've had many aha moments! Possibly because I am in the midst of working on several large scale reform projects, so the challenges inherent to these projects are very real to me. The principle of praxis is definitely in place. The principle of praxis has become very clear to me as I've read the more abstract ideas in the book. Having a practical application helps me to understand and manipulate the ideas so that they make sense. I've found now that I've got the language necessary to talk about how important it is to focus on the instructional core. On the idea of incentives that Jean mentions in her post, I believe that teachers get fired up and re-committed when they see their students learning. Getting to internal incentives rather than external incentives are what really drives this idea. Does that relate to Elmore's subtitle: From the inside out? I had a coaching day with a district I am working with. We have developed a group of instructional coaches between the middle schools in this district. We've had our ups and downs - and many of them have been related to systemic issues. Yesterday, we had day filled with with engaged middle school teachers talking and sharing ideas related to the instructional core. The meeting was energizing, insightful, and filled with shared learnings. One of the math teachers talked about how he realized that his students didn't really understand the concept of "learning." He talked about his experiences with his students as they talked and developed the concept together of what a learning environment looks like. We also had the opportunity to meet with district and building level administrators, and we talked about issues and ideas that truly affect the instructional core from a systemic level. The curriculum director will be working directly with coaches from each content area, and they together will be working with groups of teachers to infuse Content Literacy throughout ALL of the districts' curriculum when working with teachers next school year. The assistant superintendent will be working with the teacher's association, administration, and school board to align all of the various committees in the district who design and fund professional development in an effort to make professional development more cohesive and targeted. No amount of money could have been a more powerful incentive for these teachers/coaches/building leaders than the dialogue and conversations from today. Working together to build a better learning environment, collaborating with colleagues and administration, and a shared vision of improved student outcomes have been a huge motivator. Not only is this a powerful motivator, but it is also a reward for good work. I am finding that this real world application of Elmore's ideas about school reform helps me to expand my understanding of how REAL change that comes from the inside out happens. More later... This is not an easy book to read. However, as I read this book and took time to reflect and think about the ideas presented, I’ve had many aha moments! Possibly because I am in the midst of working on several large scale reform projects, so the challenges inherent to these projects are very real to me. The principle of praxis is definitely in place. The principle of praxis has become very clear to me as I’ve read the more abstract ideas in the book. Having a practical application helps me to understand and manipulate the ideas so that they make sense. I’ve found now that I’ve got the language necessary to talk about how important it is to focus on the instructional core.

On the idea of incentives that Jean mentions in her post, I believe that teachers get fired up and re-committed when they see their students learning. Getting to internal incentives rather than external incentives are what really drives this idea. Does that relate to Elmore’s subtitle: From the inside out?

I had a coaching day with a district I am working with. We have developed a group of instructional coaches between the middle schools in this district. We’ve had our ups and downs - and many of them have been related to systemic issues. Yesterday, we had day filled with with engaged middle school teachers talking and sharing ideas related to the instructional core. The meeting was energizing, insightful, and filled with shared learnings. One of the math teachers talked about how he realized that his students didn’t really understand the concept of “learning.” He talked about his experiences with his students as they talked and developed the concept together of what a learning environment looks like.

We also had the opportunity to meet with district and building level administrators, and we talked about issues and ideas that truly affect the instructional core from a systemic level. The curriculum director will be working directly with coaches from each content area, and they together will be working with groups of teachers to infuse Content Literacy throughout ALL of the districts’ curriculum when working with teachers next school year. The assistant superintendent will be working with the teacher’s association, administration, and school board to align all of the various committees in the district who design and fund professional development in an effort to make professional development more cohesive and targeted.

No amount of money could have been a more powerful incentive for these teachers/coaches/building leaders than the dialogue and conversations from today. Working together to build a better learning environment, collaborating with colleagues and administration, and a shared vision of improved student outcomes have been a huge motivator. Not only is this a powerful motivator, but it is also a reward for good work.

I am finding that this real world application of Elmore’s ideas about school reform helps me to expand my understanding of how REAL change that comes from the inside out happens. More later…

]]>