Hello, class. This week, October 21, we will not be meeting for our regular class. Instead, I'll be meeting with each of you individually about your seminar projects. However, go ahead and read as indicated on the syllabus and post on the blog about the readings.
This week is really about the publication of teacher research--exploring examples of teacher research studies which have been disseminated to other teachers, researchers, etc. So read some examples of your choice from the Cochran-Smith and Lytle books as well as the two published studies I'll email to you. Then, reflect on the benefits and drawbacks of the publication or dissemination of teacher research. Is this dissemination vital to solidify the importance of teacher research? Is it inconsistent with the purpose of teacher research, which is improved classroom practice? Did you learn anything from the published pieces that you think helps you as a teacher? Whom does the publication of such research benefit? Should teachers be encouraged to write and publish their research?
I truly enjoyed reading Chapter Eight in Inquiry as a Stance. I felt as though I could relate Kelly Harper and her struggles to get her students to recognize and understand social justice. I actually had a similar experience with social justice books within my own classroom. When I was working on my Master’s degree, I did a small scale “study” to see how my students would react to social justice books. For the sake of time, I used children’s books that could be easily read in a short amount of time so that they could focus more on the content of the books. I bought a handful of children’s books that dealt with social justice in different ways and presented them to my students through the use of literature circles.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I did not do an extensive unit with them, I found my students to have similar reactions to Kelly’s students. Many of them did not pick up on the injustices or stereotypes that obviously permeated the books, and the ones that did chose to ignore them or downplay them. I found that my students had difficulty discussing the social injustices in all situations, but especially when the social injustice directly was related to race. Also like Kelly, I have dabbled with media literacy and having students critically think about the messages that they receive through various media, etc. I found that they had difficulty with this as well.
Initially, I thought that they just were not ready for these types of higher ordered thinking, but after reading Kelly’s piece, I wonder if they were in some way (consciously or unconsciously) blocking out the reality of their world. When thinking about the reactions of my students, it is important to know that the students I teach live in an affluent, predominantly White area and go to a school where problems that other schools have “do not exist because our students are “good” kids.” In my four years with the district that I teach in, I have found that the teachers have similarly naïve attitudes about things, ideas, and people that question the status quo.
When I think about the readings that we have done for this week, I feel inspired to know that other teachers are doing good, inquisitive work in their classrooms. I was able to personally relate to Kelly’s experiences and gain additional insight into my own teaching experience from reading hers. In a profession that can be so isolating, I think that it is very important for teachers to document their work in the classrooms; this is the main way in which we all stay connected to one another and the heart of the profession. Documenting experiences and teacher research can mean two very different things though. I whole-heartedly believe that documenting teaching experiences is beneficial to the professionals and profession as a whole, but thinking about the benefits of teacher research is a little more complicated.
When thinking about the various ways in which teacher research has been presented to us thus far this semester, it becomes obvious very quickly that teacher research has been influenced by a lot of different “institutions.” Teacher research has been influenced by the obvious – teachers, but has also been influenced by science (research methods), the university, administrators, Department of Education, etc. All of these different institutions have various agendas, which might directly relate to the various definitions of what qualifies as “teacher research” and what doesn’t. So, I guess I would say that teacher research void of all other influences can be very meaningful, but in conjunction with these various influences can work to produce negative consequences for both professionals within the field and the field of education as a whole.
While I do not necessarily believe in the dissemination of all teacher research (as we've discussed in class), I do believe we should see more such research published / shared than we currently do. In the context of readings for this week, I found myself glad to see that some of the teachers shared their (and many of our) struggles and questions about teaching, while also creating space for further discussion. For me, reading teacher research (like readings for this week) allows for the building of a community and sense of camaraderie that we don’t necessarily get with other kinds of research. To some degree, it allows us to share in our experiences and better our own practices.
ReplyDeleteAs I read Harper’s chapter, I was intrigued by how she tried to help her students “confront societal issues” (p.230), their own places of privilege, and, as Shay wrote, “understand social justice”. While I haven’t necessarily done what Harper did, I share many of her concerns about these important, “sensitive and complex” issues. (p.233). To truly understand how to help students come to a number of realizations about self and society, Harper notes the importance of “examining [one’s] own practices as well as…students’ learning” (Harper, p.233). Part of examining her practices meant keeping a journal. In reflecting on her journal writing and student responses, Harper was able to see how students viewed racism (often as a “thing of the past”) and their own “White privilege” (p.236). Throughout this chapter, Harper presents the reader with a walk through her (and the students’) classroom experience – narrating if you will. At one point, she shares with the reader her mixed feelings about discussing race in the classroom – “In a certain sense, I wanted to protect my students from being uncomfortable and from facing the difficult truths of our world, yet also wanted to expose them to the difficulties” (p.245).
My reason for a bit of summary above is simply to show part of Harper’s struggle in getting her students to think critically about social issues. While I think she presents some good ideas for how to use literature to help students become more aware of racism and prejudice, I also liked her candor and sincerity about the difficulties (and rewards) associated with presenting sensitive issues. Part of this candor seems to stem from her awareness of self in the classroom, which she presents through her teacher journals.
Teacher journals are rather important to teacher research (and all research). Along with Harper’s work, I really like Strieb’s comment about journals in chapter 6 of Inside Outside. She writes, “As I teach, I wonder how my thinking and my students’ thinking evolves over time. I wonder what I have valued and what the children are interested in and value. Lesson plans don’t tell me this, but the journal does” (Strieb, p. 122). Harris (also in chapter 6) also sees the usefulness of journals, but in perhaps different contexts that we are used to. He emphasizes the usefulness of “journals as teacher-to-teacher collaboration” (p.142) and “journals as curriculum,” allowing students “to…have a window into [the teacher’s] life” and to see “the journal [as] a way of demystifying learning and showing that everyone struggles with language” (p.145).
ReplyDeleteOf course, we all know the importance of journaling, but I think it is perhaps especially important in the context of teacher research and can help establish, as I wrote in the beginning of my post, that sense of community and camaraderie when we are open and honest with others and ourselves about our classroom practices and experiences.
I know I may sound “soft sciencey,” but I do think there is much to be said for this, and it is nice to see teacher engaging in and sharing these practices with a reading public.
The last thing I want to mention is a quote from the end of the Burn article. Burn writes - “Questioning one’s existing practice, and acknowledging the limitations of what one currently knows can…be regarded positively as a part of a professional commitment to continuing development, rather than as a sign of weakness. Nonetheless, as Stenhouse (1975, p.159) again recognised, there are profound ‘psychological and social barriers’ militating against teachers’ close examination of their own practice” (Burn, 207, p. 462). While this quote isn’t meant as a statement for why we need teacher research, I think we can read it as such. Though as teachers we do reflect on our practices, sometimes we are reticent about expressing our limitations and struggles. Teacher research is one way we can address these issues to help of continue to develop as teachers (and as people). The dissemination of such work can also help others who are also grappling with similar questions and concerns.
First, Heather mentioned a topic that also interested me and that I agree is a great rationale for completing and disseminating teacher research: community and a sense of camaraderie. Personally, I believe it is essential for teachers to share their research, and while no, there is no way we can practically disseminate all or even a good portion of the great research that is being done, I think schools probably can do a better job of highlighting one another’s’ work even within their schools, which I believe is something Shay said her school does a pretty good job of . I feel like so many schools spend time and money trying to find outsiders to come into their schools to speak on professional development days when some of their best resources are already sitting in the room. Why not instead have more schools do what Shay’s school has done and give teachers the time and space to complete their own research and then share it with others? And, as Taylor and Janet have discussed, I think having teacher research support groups is an excellent idea. We can learn so much from each other; it’s just a matter of helping teachers gain the knowledge, time, and resources they need. They are truly our profession’s most valuable resources.
ReplyDeleteBut back to a sense of community, what made me think of this topic in the reading was a statement in the Burn article where, in talking about implications of her research, she said, “Both reactions—stubborn resistance and a swift, but superficial, surrender—are in fact indicative of the same problem: a failure on our part to give due respect to the existing understandings and expertise as subject specialists that these beginning teachers brought with them” (p. 461). The reason this struck me was because I noticed that she used the word “our” assuming an audience of others who work with beginning teachers; but couldn’t the audience just as likely be beginning teachers? Or, is she assuming something about those who read research journals in this statement? Reading the word “our” conjured up thoughts in me about who “our” is in teacher research. I often do this too when talking about teachers as if I’m all teachers’ voice of reason – “we need to help our students…”— which brought me back to this idea of community, like we’re all in this together, like in some ways, we use “our” as an endearing term for our colleagues. Like Heather wondered, is this something that makes us unique in “our” profession?
Another thing that stood out to me in reading the Burn article in regards to Janet’s question about the disseminating of teacher research was that she mentions choosing a topic of “extensive concern” (p. 448) according to previous research. While I think all teacher research has potential to be useful, I wonder to what extent a teacher’s purpose for completing the research does/should influence the dissemination of it. In Burn’s case, for example, she intentionally chose a topic, which others have apparently been concerned about in contrast with the article I read in Inquiry as Stance, “Creating a Hybrid Space for Self, Teacher, and Researcher” (chapter 11) where she allowed her students’ and her research to emerge from the bottom up, which, to me, seems more characteristic of teacher research. While both studies are useful, Burn sets hers up as a solution to a larger problem from the very beginning.
Another thing that stood out to me in reading the Burn article in regards to Janet’s question about the disseminating of teacher research was that she mentions choosing a topic of “extensive concern” (p. 448) according to previous research. While I think all teacher research has potential to be useful, I wonder to what extent a teacher’s purpose for completing the research does/should influence the dissemination of it. In Burn’s case, for example, she intentionally chose a topic, which others have apparently been concerned about in contrast with the article I read in Inquiry as Stance, “Creating a Hybrid Space for Self, Teacher, and Researcher” (chapter 11) where she allowed her students’ and her research to emerge from the bottom up, which, to me, seems more characteristic of teacher research. While both studies are useful, Burn sets hers up as a solution to a larger problem from the very beginning.
ReplyDeleteIn the article I read about teacher researcher and hybridity, which I think is one of the best pieces I have read and strongly recommend it, especially in regards to the topic for the week, Swati Mehta talks about navigating her identity as a teacher and researcher while simultaneously creating her identity as a “Gujarati-speaking woman” (p. 294) of immigrant parents from India. In doing so, Mehta introduces Bhabha’s concept of cultural hybridity “as a means of navigating between spaces, between differences, between binaries of self and other” (p. 294). I think Mehta is exactly right that this is what we do as teacher-researchers; we perform both identities and navigate both the overlapping spaces and the tensions that exist between them. Having done research on Bhabha in the past, I would like to add to her theory of the teacher/research hybrid that, like Bhabha says in discussing the colonial/colonized identity, in bringing the identities of teacher/research together, we truly do “emerge as others of ourselves,” a quote of Bhabha’s. As Bhabha would say, once these identities have come together, they can no longer be who they were. I can’t help but think that this is exactly true of teacher researchers; once they take on that identity of “researcher,” to some extent, they can never return because they have been changed by it. And, in my opinion, this is yet another rationale for encouraging teachers to become researchers, to permanently assume that critical consciousness in the classroom.
Mehta also talks about how she both engaged her students in inquiry projects and established a teacher research community as a type of professional development at her school. I love that she says that this gave them “freedom to share, critique, and discuss both [their] inquiries and [their] processes” (p. 302). She also talks about how the dialogue that took place at these meetings “does not happen in [their] staff meetings,” and how this allowed her to see herself and her colleagues “as public intellectuals and recess monitors” (p. 302). Once again, more great reasons for completing teacher research—because no one wants to only be a recess monitor ; ) But honestly, she says she never realized how much she would “value this conversation” (p. 302).
Two more comments from this article (I know it’s a lot, but I really enjoyed it): In discussing the research project she had her own students complete, Metha talks about how she, her students, and her colleagues “represent a microcosm of the diversity found in many of our urban schools” (p. 302), which, once again, is a topic we’ve discussed and a valuable thought in thinking about disseminating research—of how our unique classroom experiences are a small part of the larger education system. And lastly, Metha asks at one point, “Can we get over this categorization of learner, teacher, researcher?...These identities live out within my cultural viewpoint and are part of my current and future narrative…So, here again, I will find that space, make that space, for self, teacher, and research” (p. 305).
Sorry, I really got carried away this week...
ReplyDeleteReflecting on her experience with teacher research Patria Johnston (in the Inside/Outside text) reflects on her “personal transformation,” in which her students helped her to “slow [her] pace in an attempt to see the world as someone else might see it” (p. 184). Although when making this statement, Johnston was referring the world in general, this statement struck me as one that fits with our reasons/goals for disseminating research as teachers –because that’s exactly what we and others gain—perspective into the way others, both similar to us and very different from us, view their own classrooms, students, learning spaces, etc. and in turn can influence the way we view our own classrooms, students, etc. Similarly, Johnston points out, “They showed me what to explore and pointed to vistas that would have been overlooked had I trusted only in myself” (p. 184).
I loved the Cardno and Reynolds article…Part I
ReplyDeleteCardno and Reynolds (2008) found that kindergartners were able to recognize dilemmas; while the leaders among the children were also able to identify issues that signaled the presence of dilemmas, but unable to articulate the dilemmas clearly or confront them successfully. And just as the kindergartners, their teachers and administrators (also used as subjects in this study) were aware of dilemmas, most of them easily recognized the issues that signaled the dilemma, but were also unable to clearly articulate an appropriate solution or confront the dilemma in a successful manner. This is so true, right? I have been witness to a dilemma handled with negative confrontation and inappropriate solutions. Most of the time, the reason for this disagreement or dilemma is the fact that the room is full of leaders. Cardno and Reynolds (2008) suggest that this is because of the pure nature of a leader; many can be disruptive and irresponsible of their own actions. If leaders can instead adopt an intervention were all are learning together, collaboratively based on this intervention, then the leadership dilemma becomes a critically positive dialogue. An intervention listed by the authors is reflection-in-action. This is an intervention that I support fully. I find it incredibly helpful and satisfying to work with a group of educators that base most of their curriculum and methods on solutions to common dilemmas. Rather than responding to conflict or dilemma like most in American society, with passive aggression (I have neither resource nor data to support this claim, I just believe it based on “people watching”), the leaders work together to create a solution to the problem, known as educational leadership, instructional leadership and/or curricular leadership (Cardno and Reynolds, 2008).
This idea of educational leadership and/or curricular leadership is near and dear to my heart. Although, I have never heard of this discourse (a wonderful thing about graduate school, I finally have a word to define an entire theory), I am able to relate to the leadership dilemma and its involvement in educational leadership. Not only have I been witness to educational dilemmas handled negatively, I have also seen them handled positively. As a teacher in an English department that prided itself in recognizing dilemmas among our curriculum, ours students’ needs, our classroom policies, our teaching procedures, and proposing solutions to these dilemmas, I experienced reflection-in-action, and its positive effect on a group of leaders, or should I say teachers. I was able to cast aside my worry for failure or confrontation, and understand that no matter the problem a solution was always possible. My first year of teaching was an overwhelming experience for me. I wanted to do so much with educational theory but my content database was lacking. For example, I had all of these awesome ideas for teaching grammar, but my grammar database was old and stale. So, instead I expected to spend my first year learning the basics of grammar just in order to teach it, while all of the theory drifted to the wayside. Because of the guilt I felt towards my own inability to teach grammar using the learning theories I believed would work, I had to find a solution. The only solution I could think of was to ask another teacher in my department to teach me the basics before I had to teach the basics, allowing me to apply my theories.
I loved the Cardno and Reynolds article...Part II
ReplyDeleteOkay, so here is where the leadership dilemma pops up…I was terrified of being rejected, laughed at, embarrassed, and booed out of the English department. I just didn’t know if this was a dilemma that really needed a solution, and instead of ignoring it until it became a huge issue, I finally recognized my duty as an educational leader and asked my mentoring teacher. And to my surprise, I found out that I did the right thing by the department. My mentoring teacher told me that it only cripples the department the longer we hold on to our pride and don’t address problems that will ultimately hurt the department and, most importantly, the students. And in the end, I learned the basics quickly and taught it with my theory, which didn’t work because I didn’t have the practical experience to actually administer what I was trying to achieve…oh, teaching…it just kills me! …Rambling?
Anyway, I guess I am just trying to say that I support the idea of their being a leadership dilemma, I support the need for a solution system that nurtures the learning environment, and I fully support its existence in adults as well as students. Furthermore, I support Cardno and Reynolds’(2008) conclusion, where they suggest an alteration of the status quo can be achieved through the leadership dilemma. I feel that it should be the aim of all action research to find a common conflict response among humanity and try to create an intervention that upsets the common response, usually set by the status quo, and looks for a fundamentally new response. In other words, if students see adults addressing conflict and dilemma with altruistic approaches, isn’t it only natural that soon they will do the same? Or maybe it just perpetuates the idea of a status quo? …Either way, I say that if it is possible through action research and publication to upset the status quo in a good and positive way, then publish away, teachers!!!!!
Beth, I just have to say - I think I'm going to have to add Bhabha to my reading list, since you're always talking him up :-) Sorry I'm late with my contribution - it's cooking!
ReplyDeleteWhat I really want to talk about first are journals. Like Beth and Heather, I chose to read Chapter 6 in Inside/Outside, which included three pieces focused on the the role that journals have played in the professional lives of the teachers who keep them. Mickey Harris says, “I can trace with each reviewing of my 'professional journal' how my journey of inquiry in the classroom has transacted with and shaped my life” (Cochran-Smith and Lytle, 1993, p. 131). Having this kind of insight into one's own practice, and having this kind of window into the practice of others is a powerful tool for teachers. I've mentioned before in class that I feel that even the act of considering inquiry and issues surrounding teacher research has completely changed not just how I think about my practice but also the practice itself. I agree with Heather that journals are especially important in teacher research for the purpose of developing camaraderie (which I'll talk about later), but I think they are most important in their function as a way of listening to and seeing our own and others' practices.
ReplyDeleteHarris also notes that “Eudora Welty divides her art and her life into 'Listening,' 'Learning to See,' and 'Finding a Voice'” (Cochran-Smith and Lytle, 1993, 138) and compares it to the work she accomplishes in her teaching journal. Lynne Yermanock Strieb also emphasizes the importance of listening and learning to see in her journal. She made a comment regarding observation and naming that, to me, was incredibly profoun. She says, “Naming often closes off discussion because, for some people, once you name something, there may be nothing more to say about it. . . I value the question more than the answer – the observing more than the naming” (126) – this is so powerful! It really spoke to me – we rush too quickly into “the fix,” to quickly into the naming and labeling – you're ADD, here's some ADDeroll! A journal is most important because of it encourages us to listen and learn to see through careful observation without rushing to name problems and assign definite fixes.
I connected the ways that the teachers in Chapter 6 shared their journals to the last idea of finding a voice and creating the sense of camaraderie and communiy that Heather mentioned. Jumpp and Strieb helped each other to find a voice by sharing their journals and sharing their observations of each others' classrooms. Strieb's journal has also been used as a jumping off point for other teachers in discussions at seminars (p. 123). I also found the idea of sharing a classroom journal with students while encouraging them to find their voices in their own writing to be an amazing strategy (Cochran-Smith and Lytle, 1993, p. 141). In Chapter 10 of Inquiry as Stance, Simon writes of the term “transparency.” I will write more about this later, but I think of it now because of the metaphor of journal as window into our practice and into our teacher brains. When considering the question, who is the audience for our research, why can't it be our students as well as our colleagues? One of Jumpp's students remarked to Jumpp in an exchange that occurred in the student's journal, “I like the way you take time to write what we say and think down on paper. It makes us, or at least me feel that you do care about what we feel and how we think” (Cochran-Smith and Lytle, 1993, p. 147). I think this is one of the best reasons for keeping a journal with students and colleagues and making them public – in order to have a record out there that shows that we value the work we do with our students and colleagues and want to the world to know it.
(I'll be making a second post on the rest of my reading tomorrow because it didn't fit with this. . . )
I also read Chapter 10 in Inquiry As Stance, “Constructing a Language of Learning to Teach,” by Rob Simon. That and Burn's article on history student teachers were personally helpful because of the work I am doing with my student teachers. I've written a little about them in the blog post for our final project discussions. I'm interested in following up on the concept of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Burn says, “if the practices of school-based mentors are acknowledged as critical to the development of student teachers' PCK, the implications both for student teachers' learning and for mentors' professional identity are likely to be profound if those practices, or mentors' confidence in them, is undermined or called into question” (p. 448). That comment resonated with me because, as I mentioned in my post about my project, I worry that I've started off on the wrong foot, assuming that my student teachers would be beleagured by overbearing mentor teachers and rigid school cultures. I don't know what I was thinking – I should know by now that nothing is ever that black-and-white, and that there would be much more to the student-mentor relationship. I'm now confronting questions such as, what if they like the rigidity and surety of the structure that an overbearing mentor teacher imposes?
ReplyDeleteAlso, how do I encourage student teachers to develop their own teacher identities without alienating their mentors? Burn and her colleagues noted this problem. Of the student teachers she says, “This distancing of themselves from the experienced teachers not only gives a clear indication of their sense of identity at this early stage in the course, but also raises important questions about the student teachers' willingness or capacity to learn from such teachers' practice in developing their own PCK” (455). When I was here as an undergrad at Purdue, I had many classes with a fellow who was very much into the notion that the mentor teachers we would be working with didn't know what they were doing and that he was going to show them how it should be. After we all began student teaching, I sort of lost contact with him, but I heard through the grapevine that he was making a lot of enemies and having a hard time because he was so standoffish.
I've been thinking about these questions in terms of “transparency” as discussed in Simon's chapter (10) in Inquiry As Stance. I would like to be transparent with student teachers and mentor teachers. Simon says that “learning to teach is about negotiating these, and other, competing images and discourses of teaching, and constructing their own theories and concepts” (Cochran-Smith and Lytle, 2009, p. 276). However, Burn noted of mentor teachers that “In planning conversations [mentor teachers] were certainly encouraging the student teachers to experiment for themselves, but they offered relatively few specific suggestions for them to test. It would appear that their professional identity as experienced practitioners was under threat and they were no longer willing to expose their own practice to detailed scrutiny” (p. 457). How can I be transparent with both parties and let them know that I am interested in how student teachers build their identities by negotiating a number of influences, including that of the mentor teacher, without implying that I think the mentor teacher could be a negative and/or overpowering influence?
Anyway, I've benefitted from the dissemination of all this teacher research because it has really led me to think more deeply about how I will conduct my own research, even when the specific content of the studies isn't entirely applicable to my situation. Even though a teacher research study might not necessarily be generalizable, it can still be an impetus for motivating another teacher to try his or her own study, as these articles are influencing my own research design.
Courtney, Maybe I'm naive, but I don't think that mentor teachers will be overly concerned that you're criticizing them, especially if you're careful about your wording and explain that, as you mentioned, you're looking at how student teachers negotiate their identities while looking at all of those factors, which includes the mentor teacher. Do you think it could be your initial idea of mentor teachers as dragon-ladies ;) that is making you think that the teachers might believe you're looking for something like this?! (: I think if you share with them that their role with the mentor teacher is one of the factors you're looking at that they will not be offended...then you're not implying that this is good, bad, or otherwise, it just is what it is, right?? Were you planning on trying to use comments and things from the mentor teachers? Are you asking them to complete an IRB? Will you try to publish this research? I guess it could become more complicated at the point where you might be sharing something that could offend them??
ReplyDeleteI applauded the New Zealand teachers’ efforts in using a teacher research model to explore the interpersonal relationships of their school setting. The group of female teachers experienced tension in their work relationships because they preferred a more feminist, consensual management style but were forced to operate in a more masculine, hierarchical management system. The decision to use the teacher research model, a more feminist approach, to deconstruct the “leadership dilemma” allowed members of the teacher community within the school to contribute their ideas and feelings about the current system. As defined by Cardno, “a leadership dilemma arises in the context of performance appraisal and manifests as a tension between meeting the needs of the organization and maintaining positive relationships with individuals.” By allowing teachers to contribute to the process of evaluating and revamping the management system, teacher voices are heard even when specific supervisory-situations demand a hierarchical approach. “If people can find the sources of ineffectiveness in their own reasoning and behavior, or their own casual responsibility, they then possess some leverage for producing change.” By collecting data about their own behaviors and by being reflective practitioners, these teachers could enact change and create a better school environment.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading the article, I could not help but question the plausibility of teacher research being implemented to achieve Annual Yearly Progress. Since female teachers out number male teachers at nearly every grade level, my first thought was that implementation of teacher research as a method of analyzing school improvement needs was plausible. On a more macro-level however, would a government system and an education system controlled by men support a feminist model? This may be my own biases coming out, but I have a difficult time believing that the current government and education administrators would allow this much talk time with their employees. It is an inefficient way of arriving at a solution. The more people that are contributing, the more time it takes to arrive at a plan of action. It can also be perceived as undermining the administration’s authority. In the process of allowing teachers to have agency, administrators must relinquish assumed power. I can see administrators having a fear of allowing others power in deciding how to improve the school in order to meet AYP. Teachers could come to expect increased agency in other matters of the school and thus create a leadership dilemma.
I laughed after reading the quotation from Cardno about formal leaders.
ReplyDelete[They] have the power to influence the learning-teaching environment for better or worse, thus they must take personal responsibility and own these dilemmas as they alone are in a position to directly lead change in both organizational and individual practice. This happens through face-to-face encounters that implicate them wholly in the success or otherwise of the resolution process (Cardno, 2007, pp. 33-34).
The humor is not in what Cardno said. I whole-heartedly agree with the statement. The humor is in the fact that I said this, or something with the same sentiment, to a male administrator while in the role of union building representative. Gutsy or stupid, to this day I don’t know. I do know that my efforts to advocate for teacher agency within the school were ignored because it was not the administrations’ agenda to have an empowered teacher-community. My statements that the teachers were frustrated by current AYP improvement practices and wanted to be allowed more ownership in the school-improvement process were taken as a threat to the administrations’ leadership ability.
In the hierarchical system that governs education, practitioners are aware of only a few of the choices they are allowed to make. I enjoyed Friedman’s perspective, “The goal of action science inquiry is to help practitioners discover the tacit choices they have made about perceptions of reality, about their goals, and about their strategies for achieving them.” Although Friedman is talking about action-research in science, I could not help but connect his words to the belief that teachers can be change-agents and can work collaboratively for the betterment of education.