Transcript
Page 1: Schools Supporting Teachers

The Intentional Teacher

Better Teaching Through School-Teacher Dialogue

Peter Gow * NAIS 2010

Page 2: Schools Supporting Teachers

WHY?•Your faculty is your most important resource•Every teacher deserves to be given the

chance to be the best s/he can be•Every school should strive to be the best

possible environment for teachers’ success and growth

•Effective teaching and satisfied teachers combine as your #1 marketing force (plus, it’s like, y’know, good for kids…)

•The best teachers want to be involved

NAIS 2010Intentional Teacher/P. Gow

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TALK IS A GOOD IDEA•Good relationships thrive on dialogue•Being a (Professional) Learning Community or just

a damn good place for kids to learn and adults to grow requires lots of talk

•Schools need to be places where teachers know how to converse about teaching and learning—especially as we strive toward “21st-century” goals

•Schools must be places where leaders and teachers communicate clearly and honestly across boundaries of experience, culture, and expectation

NAIS 2010Intentional Teacher/P. Gow

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RECRUITING & HIRING•Be clear about what you want and about who

succeeds at your school: build a Recruiting Case

•Create materials that provide a thorough and accurate picture of what it means to be a teacher at your school—“informed consent”

•Give candidates the chance to put their best foot forward (and a chance to look around on their own)

•Candidates should meet supervisors, colleagues, students

NAIS 2010Intentional Teacher/P. Gow

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INDUCTION & ORIENTATION•Differentiate orientation and mentoring

based on a careful assessment of new teacher strengths and needs

•“New” means “new to your school”—don’t assume too much about experienced hands

•School culture should be a focus of orientation

•Build a “Culture of Mentoring”—invest and engage all faculty and administrators in supporting new teachers

NAIS 2010Intentional Teacher/P. Gow

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CLARIFY SCHOOL STANDARDS• What does it mean to “do well” in your school?• What does it mean to “be good” in your

school?• What do students expect in the way of

feedback and guidance?• What are the behavioral norms in your

classrooms and around the school?• What rules absolutely, positively matter?• What are the expectations for professional

behavior?

NAIS 2010Intentional Teacher/P. Gow

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THE SUPPORTIVE CLASSROOM• Give your new teachers feedback on their work

from Day One: lesson plans, curriculum, assessment strategies, management

• (Feedback is not evaluation)• Create support networks for new teachers• Build new teacher cohorts into mutual support

groups• (And the Supportive Dorm, Advisor Group, Team,

Club; make sure teachers know whence cometh their help)

• Mantra: You’re never alone here!

NAIS 2010Intentional Teacher/P. Gow

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WHO’s IN CHARGE HERE?•Clarify roles, hierarchies, chains of command• It’s all very well to be a flat organization, but

newcomers may have a hard time seeing the critical features in a two-dimensional world

•Make time for new teachers to meet with supervisors, to ask questions, to seek feedback on non-teaching aspects of their jobs

• (And build into the culture the idea of doing this throughout a career)

NAIS 2010Intentional Teacher/P. Gow

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MIND THE GAPS•Think about what you would want your

faculty to know and understand collectively•Think “deep background” and daily practice

(child development and rubric design)•Then build professional development

programs to deliver this knowledge and skill base to teachers throughout their careers

•Take an institutional approach to strategic change; bring everyone along as if the school depended on it

NAIS 2010Intentional Teacher/P. Gow

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HEAR THE PEOPLE•Make it possible for good ideas to percolate

upwards; reward innovation and positive participation in whatever ways you can (yes, that includes …)

•Make sure that benefit programs are responsive to the people you have, by ages and stages

•Sometimes it’s just February, but sometimes it’s real: don’t pretend that grumpiness will go away of its own accord—address issues as they arise

NAIS 2010Intentional Teacher/P. Gow

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LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT• Ask and involve• Don’t make assumptions about what people don’t

want• Transparency in the development and execution of

strategic directions is a good thing; allow window shopping and invite people into the store

• Don’t stop talking to senior people; don’t rely on second-hand assessments of their interests, behavior, and efficacy

• (The same goes for more junior people)• (Make sure you have a plan for who does the

talking)

NAIS 2010Intentional Teacher/P. Gow

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EVALUATE FOR GROWTH

• Professional evaluation should be a dialogue▫About goals—individual and institutional▫About observed behavior and practice▫About expectations▫About long-term plans and growth

• Evaluation—that is, the dialogue about professional effectiveness and goals—should never end (even if your system goes a bit easier on the senior folk)

• Build in goal-setting and growth planning

NAIS 2010Intentional Teacher/P. Gow

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PEOPLE ARE REAL• And so are the personal issues they face

▫ Professional highs and lows▫ Personal challenges

Relationships Aging parents Children Crises of siblings and close friends Health

• Invite people to talk—be proactive, open, supportive• Anticipate needs related to life challenges; consider

EAPS and ways to ease access to leaves, sabbaticals

NAIS 2010Intentional Teacher/P. Gow

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Movement is healthy• Don’t be afraid to talk with teachers about

moving on▫When their efficacy is dwindling and you have

already addressed this directly▫When their happiness is in question and they need

encouragement to consider change▫When they have outgrown your school and the

opportunities it offers• Address these issues before they reach a critical

point• Celebrate good change—happy folks headed to

bigger or better things reflect well on your school

NAIS 2010Intentional Teacher/P. Gow

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ResourcesNAIS 2010Intentional Teacher/P. Gow

Peter Gow, The Intentional Teacher: Forging A Great Career In the Independent School Classroom (Avocus Publishing, 2009)

A Teacher’s Guide to Life and Work (from Beaver Country Day School). Link at http://www.bcdschool.org/podium/default.aspx?t=111614

Susan Rosenholtz, Teachers’ Workplace: The Social Organization of Schools (Teachers College Press, 1991)

James Tracy, ed. A Guidebook to the NAIS Principles of Good Practice (NAIS, 2007)

Shameless plug!!

Gow, Admirable Faculties: Recruiting, Hiring, Training, and Retaining the Best Independent School Teacher (NAIS, 2005)


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