|
|
|
The views expressed on this page are soley
those of the author and do not
necessarily represent the views of County
News Online
|
 |
EdSurge
Are We Rushing Education Change? The Case for Slowing Things Down
By Miriam Plotinsky
Oct 19, 2019
Education is known for endless change, and over the years that’s taken
many forms: testing modifications, curriculum adjustments, new
committees to join, fresh acronyms to learn. With these continuous
shifts comes an accompanying sense of urgency, one that tells educators
to hurry up and implement whatever is on the horizon, even if that
leaves us feeling a little like the hare in the classic tortoise and
the hare fable. When change is needed, why is it accompanied by a
mindset that necessitates rushing the process?
Whatever the reason for our various (and often knee-jerk) reactions to
constant change, it is fairly vital that we breathe and just slow down.
Otherwise, we run the risk of having to fix a series of broken pieces
that create a less than ideal whole. Looking at change on multiple
levels can help us determine how to take our time and maximize the
effectiveness of new initiatives. Here are a few.
Classroom Change
I used to feel a lot of urgency around writing instruction,
particularly when it came to skills that students would be held
accountable for on standardized assessments. One day, I had a lightbulb
moment. Instead of asking the class to write a whole essay that
demonstrated proficiency with analytical writing, I asked for two full
paragraphs instead. This shorter assignment still allowed students to
demonstrate mastery toward the standard, and we had more time to make
sure not just that those two paragraphs met the objective, but that
students could also move their writing forward with a fuller
understanding of the process.
Rather than working fast to assign lengthy tasks, teachers can do more
with far less. That way, instructional shifts are focused and
intentional, creating desired results the first time around. It is
tempting to push through curriculum requirements just to get them done
and tell ourselves we can always go back and reteach the content, or
(upping the ante) apply interventions to instruction. We rush because
we perceive that slowing down would put us behind; after all, how else
do you make up for snow days, pep rallies and fire drills? There are
too many interruptions to class time, and we respond by speeding up.
Instead, thinking about high-quality first instruction is the key to
ensuring that learning needs are met without needing to retrace our
steps.
School-Wide Change
Before creating anxiety with a set of directives each new school year,
greet staff with an overall “why,” and then enlist the help of all to
break the work into manageable chunks that follow a clear progression.
For instance, it is not uncommon for administrators to survey staff and
then encounter data that indicates an unideal school climate. In that
situation, slow down and gather more voice from teachers to learn about
what is causing the issue. Is it a lack of transparency from
leadership? Perhaps expectations are not clear? Once the specific
problems are isolated, it is much easier to move forward.
In the past, I have worked with school community members to create a
specific climate plan that takes us through the calendar year,
recording all actions that are being done to gradually improve the
school environment. Then, we set up a series of checkpoints to analyze
results. Giving the process the time it needs saves angst down the road.
Professional Development Change
A few years ago, my department expressed an interest in learning more
about blended learning models. Instead of jumping into advanced
options, I started by giving them a playlist with differentiated
resources (videos, podcasts, and articles) to get the conversation
going. Once we had a baseline of understanding, it was possible to move
into professional development that modeled blended learning more
actively by creating station rotations and participant-centered
meetings.
Consider the power of slowing down the change process when it comes to
training. When school leaders see a gap, they want to fill that need as
quickly as possible, which is understandable. However, creating a wish
list for professional development results in a lack of focus. As a best
practice for staff development, identify the most salient goal through
root-cause analysis. Then create a progression of professional
development by back-mapping where staff should be at the end of the
year, moving toward where they currently are. If we go too quickly and
try to get to an end result with staff development without a proper
process, we will almost certainly fail.
So much of what we do in education (and in life) can be improved by
slowing down, breathing, and thinking about the “why” before the “how.”
Otherwise, when we barrel ahead, we almost always have to go back and
fix part or all of our work. Before we go forward in the mistaken
perception that sprinting throughout the race will get us to our goals
authentically, it would be advisable to think about moving slowly, just
like the tortoise in the story, toward success.
|
|
|
|
