tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2357764854898127625.post1483243267519483802..comments2024-01-30T01:07:07.808-05:00Comments on Education Worker: The Meaning of Collaboration: Power, Security and ControlSteve Owenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11463763850094685043noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2357764854898127625.post-79611225281218646842021-06-20T05:28:13.716-04:002021-06-20T05:28:13.716-04:00I can see that you are an expert at your field! I ...I can see that you are an expert at your field! I am launching a website soon, and your information will be very useful for me.. Thanks for all your help and wishing you all the success in your business. <a href="https://eagleess.com/" rel="nofollow">Security camera installation Dubai</a><br />Aexandra Daddariohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16288604070155908165noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2357764854898127625.post-38311932654749376402011-10-20T06:07:58.285-04:002011-10-20T06:07:58.285-04:00Mike, thanks for writing! It is indeed useful to ...Mike, thanks for writing! It is indeed useful to critique progressive methods. I was only explaining Willingham's problem statement - that there is a disconnect between mantra we recite about progressive education and what we actually do in the classroom. I think that is an interesting issue to explore. Cognitive limits do not mean that we are stupid, lazy, or uninformed just that human information processing ability is finite. I find in my own practice that the more student centered my techniques become, the more challenging my classroom becomes to manage - to the point of exhaustion.<br /><br />I'm a 20 year veteran general music teacher at the elementary level. Lecture and worksheets are a relatively small part of my practice. Interestingly, when I use lecture and worksheets, my students seem much more comfortable - they know how to handle that, having done it so many times. I personally believe in assessment of conceptual understanding through creative tasks - don't simply spew propositional knowledge of what dynamics are, but demonstrate effective use of dynamics in a composition or improvisation.<br /><br />These open ended, divergent (many correct answers) tasks are psychologically risky for students, and some of them behave accordingly. But the day I stop taking risks in my teaching is the day I retire.<br /><br />If I was teaching AP calculus or English comp in a tested grade, I might have a very different perspective.<br /><br />I think your vision of partnership is a deeply collaborative model. There are models of teacher led schools out there, for example the MSLA in Denver. There is also one in Portland ME and one in MN. I'm intrigued by the idea because in rural education we are suffer a dearth of administrative talent.<br /><br />Thank you for challenging me - eliciting a strong response is the best way I have of knowing I actually said something :)Steve Owenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11463763850094685043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2357764854898127625.post-6118808208504275022011-10-19T16:44:04.957-04:002011-10-19T16:44:04.957-04:00"...while progressive teaching techniques are..."...while progressive teaching techniques are universally regarded in the profession as the best way to educate..." Universally regarded?!?! In my experience, most teachers think those methods are total bs. It's the administrators (who often have little to no classroom experience themselves) who favor "progressive" methods. Here's what we ought to do. Create schools where the teachers decide the curriculum, hire and fire staff and control the budget. Replace tenure with "partnership" status that can be withdrawn by a 2/3 vote of the other partner teachers. No doubt there would be a few "progressive" schools but the majority would not. If 90% of teachers use traditional methods that's because they know such methods are far more effective. Not because they are lazy, tired, uninformed or cognitively limited. I have more faith in the judgement of my fellow teachers than a few biased researchers and the inexperienced bureaucrats who blindly follow them.Mike Sullyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04577534693364765946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2357764854898127625.post-59079975052394448142011-10-06T20:25:58.344-04:002011-10-06T20:25:58.344-04:00Patrick, I think a big piece is the ability to hav...Patrick, I think a big piece is the ability to have professional conversations. A major disadvantage of binary satisfactory/unsatisfactory eval systems is that in the places these predominate we never developed the capacity to talk about how to improve. Even in in my district with the Danielson style 4 point rubric, the system remains binary, and anything less than 3 or 4 is regarded as a slight - ironically, a de facto binary eval system.<br /><br />One way forward I see is the National Board process. Those of us who have experienced this process have learned to think in more sophisticated terms that enable continuous improvement. In places where there are a critical mass of NBCTs, districts need to start leveraging the Gestalt shift in thinking that the NBPTS process enables. Too often it is treated as a credential.Steve Owenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11463763850094685043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2357764854898127625.post-25530633800453904662011-10-06T20:10:48.521-04:002011-10-06T20:10:48.521-04:00Terrific big picture perspective as usual! How can...Terrific big picture perspective as usual! How can we "break this down" at the school level so collaboration becomes more of a reality in places where it is not happening? <br /><br />What skills/attitudes and school structures are needed from the administrators? What skills/attitudes/expectations are required from the teachers?<br /><br />What are the concrete and practical examples we can point out in schools that are collaborative? (Teacher leadership teams for school decisions, etc)<br /><br />-PatrickPatrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10715254549126122859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2357764854898127625.post-49484576079686137342011-10-04T20:08:58.564-04:002011-10-04T20:08:58.564-04:00Erica, I know the Reggio model well - I co-teach t...Erica, I know the Reggio model well - I co-teach twice a week with a pre-school teacher who started in that approach, but it would be fairer to say now that she is deeply Reggio informed. The Orff-Schulwerk music approach has several features in common with Reggio, as well as a fair amount of cross-fertilization, and yes I agree with you, that Reggio is a model that can only thrive in a deeply collaborative environment.<br /><br />I also agree that teachers must be treated the way we expect students to be treated and that the union potentially has an important role in bringing this about.<br /><br />James, I appreciate your "going for a little more each time" model. I'm grappling as a union president with an issue that could be an example of this, and the hardest thing is to let go and take that risk. I do not underestimate the difficulty of what I calling for here. Feel free to cross post - it is the ideas that count.Steve Owenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11463763850094685043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2357764854898127625.post-12086306158485093212011-10-03T21:13:37.502-04:002011-10-03T21:13:37.502-04:00hi Steve, I really enjoyed this post-- a compellin...hi Steve, I really enjoyed this post-- a compelling way of detailing the nuances that are required for collaboration to take hold in our schools and school districts. It really does seem like it comes down to timing... and figuring out some way for one 'side' to loosen its posture just enough for the other to do the same. Because shared success and a shared history, along with stable leadership, provides the ground for going for a little more each time. But when the conversation is so high-stakes political, and when leadership on both ends is rewarded more by hardening rather than building the elements of collaborative nuance into their positions, it makes the practice of true collaboration all the more difficult. <br /><br />And worthwhile. Thank you for your good thinking on the issue. Do you mind if I cross post on our own efforts in the Boston Public Schools re: labor-management collaboration at www.theteachingpulse.org?Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06410133841575754793noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2357764854898127625.post-85217111927926874802011-10-03T09:52:59.539-04:002011-10-03T09:52:59.539-04:00Steve, I am sure you already know about the early ...Steve, I am sure you already know about the early childhood model in use in Reggio Emilia. It is a fine example of teachers having time and support built into the system for planning, exploring ideas,and supporting learning within a collaborative model. I think you have hit the nail on the head here in this blog... we have to provide collaboration and peer support and assessment in the system, if teachers are to use this type of learning model in their classrooms. These systems must be bargained for and maintained on the union level. And lastly, teachers must learn and grow and be supported in the same manner in which they would like to see their students learn and grow and be supported. Well said, sir.EricaLeighhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01989050944679447530noreply@blogger.com