Thursday, February 19, 2009
Module 3: Key Questions
4. How does your community fare in terms of the SchoolPLUS Effective Practices framework?
Module 3: Key Questions
1. Develop a definition of community. Who is included within that definition? Who is excluded? If you are so inclined, you might want to consider a visual metaphor or some kind of graphical representation or symbol to define and describe a community.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Circle of Courage: A Suburban Experience
1. Using the Circle of Courage Model or the Effective Practices Framework, identify several members of your school and interview them to get their perspective on how the school is “doing” in terms of promoting independence, mastery, belonging and generosity OR the 5 core principles and 6 effective practices of SchoolPLUS. Write a descriptive summary report of your findings (no more than 3 pages), including any anecdotes or narratives shared.
Teaching in a large suburban high school, I’ve been able to talk to three teachers about their perception of the application of the Circle of Courage in our school. The teachers include a male who teaches an advanced science class and who has been teaching for over 20 years. Another teacher is a woman who has been teaching for several years in Canada, after having been born and grown up in Switzerland. The third individual is a young man who has taught for less than 10 years in rural and urban Saskatchewan.
In the interview, the teachers were asked how they felt that our school exhibits and fosters the four quadrants of the Circle of Courage model: Independence, Mastery, Belonging, and Generosity. Because each of the teachers has different levels of understanding of the Circle, their answers were based more on their understanding of the words themselves or on their understanding of our school division’s shared values, knowing there were parallels between the two models. I hoped to glean, however, an overall impression of where our school stands in terms of instilling Circle of Courage values.
Independence
At our school teachers feel that of the Circle of Courage values, we tend to foster this value the best. Though at times we may tend to “spoon feed” them as one teacher described it, teachers do try to have their students develop traits that will lead them toward independence. The course selections at our school offer students such a wide variety of choice that the students are encouraged to begin to choose their own path in life. Granted, parents may step in, especially in the earlier high school grades to make those choices for their children, when students are put in charge of their own destiny, they tend to embrace it.
At our school we encourage independent thought in our classes. We try to avoid mere regurgitation of facts and figures and instead hope that students develop the confidence and independence to trust their own way of understanding to support their work. While not all teachers may do this rigorously, we feel that we make every attempt to have it happen. Also, since demographically speaking, a large proportion of our students will be going on to university or a technical institute, parents, teachers and students are well aware that we must foster as much independent thought as possible, since in order to be successful in these institutes, students will need to have this value deeply ingrained in their psyche.
Mastery
Students at this high school are undoubtedly encouraged toward mastery of their subjects. Since ours in not necessarily a technical school in which hands-on skills must be mastered, it does have aspects that do require mastery in all subject areas. Being an International Baccalaureate (IB) school, we have extremely high level classes in which the students work and they must strive to master more complex ways of knowing subjects than in regular classrooms. Our students are encouraged to want to know no matter what level at which they begin. Our languages core area strives to enrich students understanding both technically and conversationally in English, French, German and Spanish. Teachers have high expectations for their students and the students respond as they strive toward mastery.
Belonging
Since this is one of our school division’s four Shared Values, it has been adopted and is being pursued within our everyday life at the school. The Student Advisory Program at all Public high schools, is an excellent example of how this is being accomplished. Students meet each day for a 20-minute period in groups of 16 to 20, where they work on values-type lessons in order to foster the Belonging value. Our school is the largest high school in the city, however, we still run into the reality that students inevitably gather into smaller groups or clichés. These groups may be drawn from extra-curricular activities such as sports, music or IB courses. As well they may form from ethnic groupings in the school since these students often may encounter similar experiences, especially if they are recent immigrants to Canada. This may be yet another way, their own way, that these students feel the sense of belonging we are trying to instill.
Generosity
At our school, this may be the one value from the Circle of Courage that is the most difficult to instill in our students. Since so many of the students come from middle to upper-middle class families, the values already instilled may tend toward competition rather than generosity. As is the case in many high schools, sports play a large role in the development of school spirit. The competitive nature of this aspect steers many students away from generosity. Scholarship competition also directs students away from the real meaning of generosity, since tens of thousands of dollars can be obtained in a single scholarship. In one example, at the beginning of a semester a student asked a teacher how many “A’s” that teacher typically handed out each term. Somewhat taken aback, the teacher responded and the next day that student had transferred out of that teacher’s class.
We do foster generosity during the Christmas season by raising money for over 50 needy families in the city, but even that is done through a competition. Our school even sponsors another school in Africa, which could allow for students to experience altruism, but only a very few students take an active role in promoting and supporting this activity. True generosity is difficult to instill in students who lead such privileged lives. They oftentimes don’t understand what it is like to not have everything they ever wished for. If they don’t receive things from their parents, they simply get a part-time job and can quickly afford it. Even generosity between other students is difficult to notice, but when it happens, we applaud it.
Conclusion
While completing these interviews, it became apparent that these teachers had varying degrees of knowledge of the Circle of Courage model. The three of them were at different points in their careers and were from vastly different upbringings. Their teaching experiences were quite different too. However, what drew all of them/us together was our knowledge of our own school division’s Shared Values. It was from this place, a place of common understanding, that we were able to make the transition to the Circle’s values understood. A shared set of values, we all agreed, was an important foundation on which to build common understandings and direction of purpose among a group of people. The degree to which we measured up to the Circle’s values wasn’t as important to these teachers, as was the importance that we were all trying to infuse values into our students’ own value systems. It would be interesting to explore further a wider sample of teachers as the leadership at our school tries more diligently to actualize the First Nations goal in our school’s Learning Improvement Plan.
Teaching in a large suburban high school, I’ve been able to talk to three teachers about their perception of the application of the Circle of Courage in our school. The teachers include a male who teaches an advanced science class and who has been teaching for over 20 years. Another teacher is a woman who has been teaching for several years in Canada, after having been born and grown up in Switzerland. The third individual is a young man who has taught for less than 10 years in rural and urban Saskatchewan.
In the interview, the teachers were asked how they felt that our school exhibits and fosters the four quadrants of the Circle of Courage model: Independence, Mastery, Belonging, and Generosity. Because each of the teachers has different levels of understanding of the Circle, their answers were based more on their understanding of the words themselves or on their understanding of our school division’s shared values, knowing there were parallels between the two models. I hoped to glean, however, an overall impression of where our school stands in terms of instilling Circle of Courage values.
Independence
At our school teachers feel that of the Circle of Courage values, we tend to foster this value the best. Though at times we may tend to “spoon feed” them as one teacher described it, teachers do try to have their students develop traits that will lead them toward independence. The course selections at our school offer students such a wide variety of choice that the students are encouraged to begin to choose their own path in life. Granted, parents may step in, especially in the earlier high school grades to make those choices for their children, when students are put in charge of their own destiny, they tend to embrace it.
At our school we encourage independent thought in our classes. We try to avoid mere regurgitation of facts and figures and instead hope that students develop the confidence and independence to trust their own way of understanding to support their work. While not all teachers may do this rigorously, we feel that we make every attempt to have it happen. Also, since demographically speaking, a large proportion of our students will be going on to university or a technical institute, parents, teachers and students are well aware that we must foster as much independent thought as possible, since in order to be successful in these institutes, students will need to have this value deeply ingrained in their psyche.
Mastery
Students at this high school are undoubtedly encouraged toward mastery of their subjects. Since ours in not necessarily a technical school in which hands-on skills must be mastered, it does have aspects that do require mastery in all subject areas. Being an International Baccalaureate (IB) school, we have extremely high level classes in which the students work and they must strive to master more complex ways of knowing subjects than in regular classrooms. Our students are encouraged to want to know no matter what level at which they begin. Our languages core area strives to enrich students understanding both technically and conversationally in English, French, German and Spanish. Teachers have high expectations for their students and the students respond as they strive toward mastery.
Belonging
Since this is one of our school division’s four Shared Values, it has been adopted and is being pursued within our everyday life at the school. The Student Advisory Program at all Public high schools, is an excellent example of how this is being accomplished. Students meet each day for a 20-minute period in groups of 16 to 20, where they work on values-type lessons in order to foster the Belonging value. Our school is the largest high school in the city, however, we still run into the reality that students inevitably gather into smaller groups or clichés. These groups may be drawn from extra-curricular activities such as sports, music or IB courses. As well they may form from ethnic groupings in the school since these students often may encounter similar experiences, especially if they are recent immigrants to Canada. This may be yet another way, their own way, that these students feel the sense of belonging we are trying to instill.
Generosity
At our school, this may be the one value from the Circle of Courage that is the most difficult to instill in our students. Since so many of the students come from middle to upper-middle class families, the values already instilled may tend toward competition rather than generosity. As is the case in many high schools, sports play a large role in the development of school spirit. The competitive nature of this aspect steers many students away from generosity. Scholarship competition also directs students away from the real meaning of generosity, since tens of thousands of dollars can be obtained in a single scholarship. In one example, at the beginning of a semester a student asked a teacher how many “A’s” that teacher typically handed out each term. Somewhat taken aback, the teacher responded and the next day that student had transferred out of that teacher’s class.
We do foster generosity during the Christmas season by raising money for over 50 needy families in the city, but even that is done through a competition. Our school even sponsors another school in Africa, which could allow for students to experience altruism, but only a very few students take an active role in promoting and supporting this activity. True generosity is difficult to instill in students who lead such privileged lives. They oftentimes don’t understand what it is like to not have everything they ever wished for. If they don’t receive things from their parents, they simply get a part-time job and can quickly afford it. Even generosity between other students is difficult to notice, but when it happens, we applaud it.
Conclusion
While completing these interviews, it became apparent that these teachers had varying degrees of knowledge of the Circle of Courage model. The three of them were at different points in their careers and were from vastly different upbringings. Their teaching experiences were quite different too. However, what drew all of them/us together was our knowledge of our own school division’s Shared Values. It was from this place, a place of common understanding, that we were able to make the transition to the Circle’s values understood. A shared set of values, we all agreed, was an important foundation on which to build common understandings and direction of purpose among a group of people. The degree to which we measured up to the Circle’s values wasn’t as important to these teachers, as was the importance that we were all trying to infuse values into our students’ own value systems. It would be interesting to explore further a wider sample of teachers as the leadership at our school tries more diligently to actualize the First Nations goal in our school’s Learning Improvement Plan.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Module 2: Reflection Questions
8. According to SchoolPLUS, schools have the capacity to meet the developmental and learning needs of every child and young person. Schools, assisted by a network of human services, provide the supportive environment needed to ensure the success of every child. Rather than requiring students to be school ready, schools are student ready. How would you respond to this statement?
Module 2: Reflection Questions
7. After reading the goals/principles and effective practices of community education as described in this module, can society really expect schools to facilitate or promote all of those things? Are we asking or expecting too much? Is there, or should there be a boundary to community education?
Module 2: Reflection Questions
6. Do you have any “Community Education Stories of Success” that you have experienced?
Module 2: Reflection Questions
5. Of the 6 SchoolPLUS compliant effective practices underlying community education as described in this module, are there any in particular that your school or educational organization does well?
Module 2: Reflection Questions
4. Of the various principles underlying community education as described by the Circle of Courage or SchoolPLUS, are there any in particular that your school or educational organization does well?
Module 2: Reflection Questions
3. The Role of the School identified twelve major forces impacting Saskatchewan Education. Are these 12 forces still at work today and if so, what impact or influence are they having on your school?
Module 2: Reflection Questions
2. While the Circle of Courage outlines the basic principles or aims of education, it does not go any further in describing how those aims might be put into practice. List and describe effective practices that your school is already doing that would promote each of the components of the model.
Module 2: Reflection Questions
1 Does your school (and if not your school then your school division) have a vision statement or motto? If so, analyze that vision statement or motto in terms of either the Circle of Courage or the principles of SchoolPLUS. What does that vision statement or motto say about the basic aims or goals of your school (division)?
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Module 2: Key Questions
3. What are the implications of SchoolPLUS and the Effective Practices Framework for school and community networking?
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Module 2: Key Questions
6. How does your school fare in terms of SchoolPLUS and the Effective Practices Framework?
Module 2: Key Questions
4. What is the relationship between the Circle of Courage Model and SchoolPLUS?
Module 2: Key Questions
2. What implications does the Circle of Courage model have for school and community networking?
Monday, January 26, 2009
Module 1: Reflection Questions
1. Each person has several horizontal and vertical pulls.
* Horizontal Relationship — The association of one individual to another individual within the same locality such as a neighborhood or a city.
* Vertical Relationship — The association of an individual to another individual or to a group based primarily on membership affiliation. This affiliation often includes membership outside the locality setting.
* List several that affect you. How have some of the pulls affected you as a community member in terms of loyalty, time constraints, and citizen involvement?
Author's school's leadership structure.
Author's Venn diagram describing roles in his school.
Monday, January 19, 2009
My peloton metaphor for teaching
My philosophy of teaching will be compared metaphorically to an activity I have taken part in for the past twenty years. I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis near the beginning of my teaching career and have lived with that diagnosis every day since that time. My philosophy of teaching and, indeed life has been shaped in some way by that singular fact. The activity I discovered shortly after my diagnosis and after beginning teaching was the MS Bike Tour.
“We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.”
Marcel Proust, French novelist (1871 - 1922)
I have always had a passion for cycling since my earliest years as a child. This passion, I learned, was a way for me to the fight against my disease as I also learned to live within my disease. The tour itself is a two day, 150 km event which is the culmination of weeks of training and fundraising toward making a difference in the research into the cure for MS and care for people with MS. The bike tour is exactly that, a tour; it is not a race. Some people may choose to treat it as a race, but its intention is to simply be a tour.
The late summer Saturday morning of the Bike Tour is full of excitement and anticipation as the riders nervously assemble their bikes and adjust their helmets, shoes, gears, tires and brakes. Conversations take place between veteran riders who chatter about the happenings in their personal and professional lives during the past year. As the time arrives for the send-off, cyclists arrange themselves at the start line in eager anticipation of the day’s ride. Similarly, in the school many teachers approach the school start-up in this fashion. We discuss our summer activities, families, upcoming students, classes and our expectations for the coming year. Challenges that are anticipated are discussed and strategies are put in place to meet those expected challenges.
“Maybe the greatest challenge now is to find a way to keep independence while also committing ourselves to the ties that bind people, families, and ultimately societies together.”
Jane O'Reilly
The day’s riding challenges are discussed by pockets of cyclists with particular attention being paid to weather conditions that are expected. On the Saskatchewan prairies wind is the cyclist’s biggest challenge. Methods are discussed on how this will be overcome. Individuals may have prepared themselves by adjusting their gear-ratios or handlebars in anticipation of such problems. Teachers will also prepare themselves to better deal with problems they’ve experienced in the past. Perhaps summer short courses have been pursued to help with reading strategies or the like. Together the riders have begun to reinforce their sense of community within their numbers with discussions about how to deal with the weather conditions.
As the 200 to 250 riders begin their day of cycling they are sent off in packs of 25 to 30 riders. These groups begin with eager and energetic efforts but then soon fall into a rhythm of cycling with or against the wind depending on their placement in the general group and the prevailing weather conditions. Veteran cyclists offer new participants suggestions to help with their upcoming ride. Teachers may also begin the year with excitement but soon fall into the year’s school rhythm. New teachers gravitate toward veteran teachers who have taken them under their wing and share ideas and materials to help throughout the upcoming year.
Many cyclists have been working independently to prepare themselves for the weekend’s activities. Fundraising ideas have been developed in order to raise as much money as possible for this cause. Some cyclists have done everything possible to raise as much money as possible. Other participants have raised the minimum amount to simply be a part of the tour. Some riders are motivated by the rewards that are offered as for fundraising levels. Top fundraisers are recognized for their efforts with prizes but also with formal recognition at the social in the evening. In education we find similar levels of participation. Some teachers only do the bare minimum as far as their involvement in the school community. Other teachers are motivated by the higher salaries that come with pursuing higher education while others accept that higher pay but are motivated by the pure accomplishment of learning. Still others are motivated simply by witnessing the growth in their students.
Back on the road with the cyclists, we notice that they have begun to form themselves into smaller groups or pelotons. A peloton is a group of cyclists that works together by individuals taking the lead for a short time to battle against the wind or rain while giving their group members a break from those conditions. The rest of the group meanwhile falls into place in such a way that they find the “sweet spot” that allows them to ride in relatively lower wind conditions. Riders may begin to feel the exhaustion of the tour but, with perseverance and the assistance of the fellow riders, will be able to make it through the day.
“Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.”
Kahlil Gibran (1883 - 1931)
After a few minutes of leading, the front cyclist will fade off to the side of the peloton, exhausted by the intense efforts of pulling the group along. He is then replaced by the next cyclist who then takes their turn at the front. Some cyclists are in particularly good shape physically and take a greater than normal time at the front allowing the other riders to rest even longer. As long as they can keep the peloton moving at a higher rate in this manner their leadership is welcomed by all. When the lead cyclist begins to lag another, sensing the weakening, eagerly moves forward to take their place. Words of thanks are exchanged as that lead rider fades back to a position of relative protection from the elements.
Teachers form their own pelotons. They work in groups or Professional Learning Communities where significant work can be done. Some leaders may take their roles to heights not previously seen in their schools. In time they may begin to lose the energy or intensity they once had. However, their contributions are appreciated and their new role is recognized as being valuable to the teaching profession or school community. Good, positive leadership can facilitate the transition for teachers like this. Leaders may also be promoted leaving a temporary void for another to move into place to carry the progress of the school forward.
“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”
John F. Kennedy (1917 - 1963), speech prepared for delivery in Dallas the day of his assassination, November 22, 1963
In the peloton, riders have been welcomed into the fold as lagging solo riders are overtaken. These individuals take their turn at the front if they are able or not if they can’t. We are all in this together! To stay with this peloton certain skills are necessary as conditions become very close and intricate and hopefully the speeds are higher than an individual rider’s speed would be. Cyclists’ attention is fixed on such details as watching for road hazards and keeping an eye on the cyclists around them.
“There are two ways of exerting one's strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.”
Booker T. Washington
US educator (1856 – 1915)
In the school community leadership can force teachers to perform in certain ways or it can give those teachers opportunities to improve their abilities and therefore improve their competencies. In this way teachers can be pulled along toward a common school goal.
For the peloton, the most obvious positive force acting in its favour is a favourable wind. Having that favourable wind makes the bike tour so much easier. Riders fly along with very little effort; spirits remain high throughout the entire tour and riders finish feeling almost fresh and feel like they can ride much further. A bike tour that experiences a tail wind on both days is rare but fantastic when it happens. Such a positive feeling remains that afterwards riders look forward to a great tour next year.
“If you are pained by external things, it is not they that disturb you, but your own judgment of them. And it is in your power to wipe out that judgment now.”
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
Roman Emperor, A.D. 161-180 (121 AD - 180 AD)
If one looks at the community as an external force in a school environment we know that it can act in a positive way or it can act in a negative way. We’ve seen instances where the community has had a negative effect interfering in some of the goals set forth by a school and its teachers. However, most often we see that the community can be a very effective, positive force that assists in the programs delivered by the school and makes the school function more effectively. Teachers working in a positive community environment appreciate all that it has to offer and sincerely look forward to being in the school each day. Strong leadership is able to bring together the positive aspects of the Community’s involvement, while minimizing or eliminating the negative aspects Community’s involvement might bring. Again, strong leadership fosters strong leadership in its ranks, and the feeling that we’re all pulling in the same direction toward a common goal, fostering intellectual, social and emotional growth within a safe learning environment.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Module 1 Reflection questions
3. What tensions are there between your beliefs and values and practice regarding your role in the relationship between home, school and community? How did this tension arise?
Module 1 Reflection questions
2. What “tensions” or discrepancies are there between your beliefs and values of community education and practice regarding the relationship between home, school and community? How did these tensions arise?
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