As a new leader in a new district, my first order of business is developing relationships and learning all I could about my setting. What do people value? Where are people coming from? What are our shared goals? Who are our students? What are our challenges? Luckily, our district has a newly created vision statement which outlines the dispositions our stakeholders value most: self-direction, critical thinking, empathy, and perseverance.
As we work to clarify these dispositions so that we have a common understanding of what the dispositions look like at different grade levels and in different subject areas, teachers must feel empowered to develop these traits in our students and themselves - we cannot wait for consensus. These dispositions represent what students need right now. This development will require risk-taking and reflection which can only be encouraged in an environment of trust.
The use of professional learning communities will grow out of a need for collaboration. Our teachers can help each other examine student work and ask the hard questions about what students actually learned despite what we think we taught. This type of analysis will take us to the next level of self-efficacy, the number one teacher trait required to increase student achievement according to Hattie. In addition to PLCs within our school, teachers can develop their own professional learning networks to support their growth within their specific grade levels or subject areas or needs. Having a trusted, online or in-person community to which you can ask challenging questions and with whom you can share and self-reflect is critical for growth as a professional.
As we work on revising our curriculum, we can focus on building opportunities for students to create rather than consume. And I'm not talking about creating a project or an essay that students hand in to the teacher or present to the class at the end of a unit of study. I'm talking about creating every day. To do so will require us to design authentic tasks for authentic audiences. Blogs, blueprints, videos, art, poetry, and models are just a few ways students can create as they learn.
We will need to design professional development opportunities for teachers that is differentiated, personalized, and strength-based. This learning should address the needs of our students and teachers while also staying clearly focused on moving us closer to our vision. Self-reflection and feedback loops must be a critical part of our ecosystem, providing opportunities for growth for individuals as well as our entire system.
