The theme of community came up all week long from the selected readings, to the school board paper, to the curriculum discussions. One of the many things that have drawn me to teaching is the sense of community that I believe exists or should exist in the classroom, in the school, and in the community at large surrounding the school. What a wonderful atmosphere to work in and foster. Now, I am not naïve enough to believe that it exists everywhere, nor that every teacher subscribes to the participative style of classroom community that Sapon-Shevin talks about in Building a Safe Community for Learning. But I certainly want to strive to achieve that in my classroom. My style of corporate management promoted that participative style, and respect in the work environment. The ideas that are fostered in this wonderful article really give rise to what a classroom should be, and how the children can learn respect for, and from each other. I see it in my kindergarten and first grade classrooms, and how important it is to create this community when a child first enters into their school career. Here is also where the teacher can reach out to the families of the children to participate and share in the mosaics of culture and experiences that each child has to share, and be nurtured by. Sapon-Shevin shared some wonderful tips to promote this within the classroom, and the theme of children helping children to be successful while all the time building on the safe community theme.
The subject of community came up with our school board experience and how that process plays itself out. It was certainly an insightful experience for me. But here was a community again discussing the ramifications of economics and what it meant to the education community. I could see the pain in the faces of the board in the face of wholesale layoffs of teachers and programs. Today we just found out in Lake Washington that no teachers would be laid off, nor class sizes increased. Instead, some administrators would be laid off and some programs cut or reduced. All in all, most agreed that it was the most pain free approach to the budget shortfalls. As I understand it, the working meetings of the board along with the community, was a very inclusive and collaborative effort. It is my hope that the theme of creativity, arts in the classroom, and arts to be experienced in our museums promoted in Greene’s Imagination, Community, and the School, will not be lost as the result of budget cuts. On the subject of curriculum, I found it sad to see how in Pearlstein’s, Tested, schools are curtailing science and social studies so that they can teach for what is being tested. As principal McKnight says, “There’s not enough time for creativity and the basics”. What a sad thing. School’s I think of as those haven’s of safety and wonderment, where for at least for six or seven hours, all children are respected for whom they are and what they can be.
Another hot topic these past weeks is teaching to the curriculum, and while I do not subscribe to “teaching to a script”, I do subscribe to following what a school system wants’ it’s children to learn. Within that framework I believe it is then my responsibility to make that learning experience creative, engaging and as enjoyable as I can make it. I have to draw on my military experience and training to first of all be a good soldier (teacher), and to follow the commands of my superiors (principle, district, state). Without that structure there is no cohesion and the mission can be severally handicapped or doomed to failure without everyone on board, regardless of our own personal feelings. I have found that even in the military objectives can be set, guidelines established, but execution and methods most times are left up to the company commanders (teachers) in the field. Esprit de Corp as in the military, transcribes very easily to the classroom as well as to the academic community I think, or should in any case.
Finally, the whole topic of assessment and why we do it, and what’s the purpose for it? I don’t think we can escape it. I think we do need to measure if curriculum is being effective so it can be modified if necessary. Are we as teachers doing what we should be doing to achieve that end? I have to ask if we are accessing the child or the teacher, and I guess both should be the answer. With that said though is it an end all like we read in Pearlstein? When your world is consumed by testing. Not at all. Testing is simply a tool that has gone beyond that to be an obsession in some places, and in those cases everyone loses, the student, the school, and the community. Tests should be but one element in evaluating a child, and downplay at that. Do children really need the pressure of testing and how it is hyped as if it were some cruel season we put on the calendar for a couple weeks a year. In How Should We Assess Student Learning, the author offers some very insightful methods to evaluate learning beyond simply test results. I assume since so much is written about the subject that there are no simple answers to this dilemma and it is bound to be debated for some time to come.
Community by no means happens by chance, and if you're seeing it in your classroom, it likely means that you are working with a teacher who worked (and works) hard to maintain that sort of space. cool.
ReplyDeleteAmazing that Lake Washington isn't laying off.
We absolutely have to be assessing kids -- always. We can't teach without ongoing and regular assessment. You'll include an assessment plan in every lesson plan that you write next year.
And yes, major testing is just one form of that, and I even have no real problem with administering such tests.
But yes, the weight now placed on test scores far exceeds what they actually can tell us.
Much is written about tests, but it's fair to call people on the debate. When teachers have argued against the heavy empaphasis on tests, test proponents have come back with "they don't want accountability" or "They have low expectations" for kids.
The pro test camp has gotten away with never really defending tests as they only route to accountability or the only way of addressing the issues of inequity in access to quality education.
We can surely change that, can't we?