This may not be
the traditional blog entry that you’re used to. It’s not about a different strategy or
approach to instruction. It’s not in
regards to activities or confirmation of excellence. It’s not evidence of an epiphany-type event
which I experienced. It’s a very simple fulminate
which many of us may be thinking, but don’t place into words. It has its base in NCLB and RttT, and now I
see and hear about schools where premonitions are coming to fruition. In education, a main task is to create an
environment in which all students have an opportunity to learn. I feel that the very basics of the system
designed to help education are, in fact, working against us.
It begins with
the premise of NCLB in that all children must be proficient by a given
date. According to Diane Ravitch (2007),
the former US Under Secretary of Education, “No nation or state has ever
achieved 100 percent proficiency for all of its students, and to create a
system that will eventually label every school a “failure” that is unable to
achieve the unattainable is likely to breed resignation and a sense of
hopelessness on the part of educators.”
These impressions prevent people and organizations from solving problems
and improving their situations. Described
by R.M.Kanter (2004), “When people become resigned to their fate, nothing ever
changes. When people are surrounded by
the feeling that they are the victims of uncontrollable forces around them –
they drag others down with them, finding the worst in everything, or resisting
other people’s ideas but offering none of their own.” This idea is the antithesis of our
mission. Schools needs to be a place
where children can find achievement, view the potential in themselves, and
struggle and strive for their best. It
must be the avenue for success. For this
to occur teachers have to continue to be problem-solvers and be invested in
each child’s success. This appears to be
the vertex of the issue: teachers are working
in a system where they feel helpless to outside forces, feeling undervalued, while
trying to provide the exact opposite environment in their classrooms.
The antidote to
despair is hope, but instilling hope requires more than pleasant affirmations
and a sunny disposition. Hope is not a
very effective organizational strategy, but organizations can foster hope,
optimism, and collective self-efficacy when they have systems which allow
people to experience success. The
organizational structure of a school can allow for success. Teamwork, clear lines of communication, and
common planning time will allow the most desperate of teachers an avenue to
achieve. Using the middle-school model,
defined in the Essential Elements,
will allow any school or organization to breed the positive attributes which
will eventually place the educators in control of their success. A brilliant teacher will not shine in a flawed
system. However, even average teachers
can find brilliance in a well-designed system.
To conclude my
rant, I say that we can only have influence over the circumstances within our
reach, which happens to be what occurs in our buildings and districts. Control over “outside factors” is futile and
will lead to utter despair. Look to the Essential Elements to help lead your
decision-making. No school is too large
or too small to implement an organizational structure which will enable
educators yearning to find success.
Have a great weekend.
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