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SHHS Instructional Leadership Team - Growing A Learner-Centered School Together by Eric Juli | This newsletter was created with Smore, an online tool for creating beautiful newsletters for individual educators, schools and districts

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SHHS Instructional Leadership Team - Growing A Learner-Centered School Together by Eric Juli | This newsletter was created with Smore, an online tool for creating beautiful newsletters for individual educators, schools and districts

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So as I was reading this week's ILT newsletter, I couldn't help but think about how to develop collective efficacy within the teams at SHHS.  I recently read a study about teacher and collective efficacy.  Basically, professional learning is the avenue to nurturing teachers' belief in their own impact.  When teams learn together, it strengthens not only their own efficacy, but the team collective efficacy, as well.

[Enter stage left] Professional Learning...
In theory professional learning is a critical piece to the puzzle. One way to provide professional learning is through instructional coaching.  Instructional coaching provides ongoing professional learning that promotes sustainable change in an organization.  BUT...how do we get people on board with coaching?  First, we approach coaching as an asset not a deficit. Second, I am wondering if we approach "fence sitters" and develop a professional learning strategy around them?  "Yes" people will buy into whatever initiative a leadership team presents and those around them don't necessarily buy into that initiative because they know "Yes" people will always say YES!  "Fence sitters" are appropriately skeptical, while maintaining professionalism, and they are who people watch.  If we get "fence sitters" on board with professional learning, we can get others on board, too.  People observe "fence sitters", respect their opinions because they vet new initiatives and determine its worth.  If we get "fence sitters" on board, they can be the biggest advocates with a larger crowd.  Eric asked how we start to make change...my vote is to strategize around the "fence sitters" to keep us accountable, help us sharpen our vision, and deepen the impact of what we hope to accomplish.

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When I began in Shaker, 7.5 years ago, I wholeheartedly agreed that we led primarily with lecture, quizzes, and tests, and less with collaborative learning, projects, and real world application.  Shaker has taken steps in the right direction, but still has room to grow. Although we may be providing more collaborative, project-based learning that have real world connections, many continue to think "content is God", which hinders the development of real-life skills.

How can we continue to grow our teaching practices, while ensuring that it's about the kids, not the content?

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I liked the school's focus on producing work for an authentic audience. I feel like that's something missing in most schools, even the most high performing ones. Producing work for just the teacher to read and grade creates a culture of compliance, while work for an authentic audience and purpose creates a sense of citizenship and productivity. I think this is an easy switch for educators to adopt, and would make a big impact in how students view their education.

One thing that I didn't like about High Tech High's model is that it is not easily replicated in multiple communities. The amount of resources that school requires and consumes is vast, and not every school district has the means to create an experience for students on that level. It can be a little misleading to say "this could be the future" when some school districts have leaky roofs, lead in their water pipes, and haven't passed a levy in 25 years. I am also wondering if the environment is stressful (maybe overly so) for educators. In looking deeper into High Tech High, I discovered they attempted to unionize earlier this year (and obviously felt that working conditions necessitated a union). In response, the CEO cancelled all planned raises and fired the teacher who helped spearhead the unionization. It seems like working at High Tech High is a "know what you're getting into, and leave if it's not your cup of tea" kind of place, rather than nurturing and supporting the talent they do have.

This school's definition of learning is that learning is done BY students, and not TO them. They are not passive recipients of knowledge. Instead, they are the creators and discoverers of knowledge. At High Tech High, students are in control of their education no matter what path it takes (we saw this with the student who failed to produce a project for exhibition night). Even then, the student finished his project after the exhibition night (and I believe during summer break), which makes failure not an option. The school focuses on the "soft skills" of speaking, listening, and collaborating equally with content knowledge and "book learning."

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I have seen this documentary a couple of times and each time I have found the concept of the school to be exciting and something to strive for. There is a point in the movie where one of the leaders says that every job someone one has will be a project. This is a very true point. I also really like how they focus on building skills everyone needs to succeed-the so called "soft skills" that are the hardest skills to learn. I think this is something more schools need to do and focus on.

Something I did not like about the school was the lack of discussion around additional supports for kids. Maybe they were present but just not discussed. I would like to see a reimagined school with an abundance of support for students in areas such as mental health and true wrap around services, etc. We should have classes that focus on various aspects of personal development such as self-esteem, self-advocacy, self-regulation, etc.

This schools definition of learning is that students learn through directly experiencing an opportunity to develop that skill. Students learn to communicate with each other by being given the opportunity to communicate with each other. Students learn time management by being given the opportunity to manage their own time.

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I liked the creativity and the authentic approach to teaching and learning.  It appears that there were strong structures of collaboration that set students up for success.  Teachers collaborating to create authentic learning experiences for students is truly a powerful thing.  I left thinking about ways we can support teachers and create a space where teachers can collaborate, try new approaches, and safe to make mistakes. I truly believe that innovations in teaching and learning cannot happen without us working diligently to create an environment conducive to that kind of learning.

The school's definition of learning is student centered, explore, create, evaluate, and refine.  Students are involved in the learning process rather than performing their learning of facts.

One question I continuously ponder is how to support this kind of environment when there are varying philosophies and beliefs? This appears to be an "all in" type of school. Where do we start when everyone is "in" at different levels?

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Particular likes: No bells or separate subjects. There is accountability, yet intellectual freedom. They've really nailed down the value of a teacher's scope and sequence. I don't think this is language the majority of Shaker teachers are even aware of. At this HS, it is everything (the what, the how, the when).

I also liked that their mission is to unteach "what has always been done". This directly relates to what we hear is "the Shaker way", "Shakerizing it". As a district, we are rooted in tradition.

Something that stood out to me was the idea that curriculum was designed in 1892, and hasn't changed much since. This is such an alarming realization after thinking about how much our World has changed. We must change with it.

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I have attended events with Scott Looney (Hawken School) a few times, and he's a big proponent of a lot of the ideas in "Most Likely to Succeed." I knew he was the founder of the Mastery Transcript Consortium, but what I didn't know is that Ted Dintersmith (the director) is on the MTC advisory board. It seems like the MTC may be a good place to start if we're looking for real-world examples (people to contact, places to visit) of schools doing this type of work.

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Mastery Transcript Consortium® (MTC) | Join the effort to create a high school transcript to transform high school.

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Welcome to Mastery Transcript Consortium® (MTC)

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MTC is is a growing network of public and private schools committed to re-inventing how all students prepare for college, career, and life.