We Should Have More Arguments About Teaching Practice

When it comes to conversations about teaching practice, I feel like I have known two different types of schools. I will simplify them here, making them polar opposites, to make a point:  

Model 1: Best practices are dictated to teachers from "above."  In this case, we receive PD or directions for practices--both curricular and pedagogical--that the school, district, or someone else has decided are best.  This decision dominates conversations about practice, because either teachers comply with the directives, implementing the practices, or they rebel in small or large ways.  Conversations about teaching practice are all in relation to agreement or disagreement, compliance or non-compliance, with the mandated "best practices."  

Model 2: Curriculum and pedagogy are left entirely up to individual teachers. Teachers decide for themselves what to teach and how to teach.  So long as we are using state standards as a guide, collecting data and analyzing student progress toward the standards, the rest is up to us. If a teacher has classroom management issues, administrators want to look into it, but so long as "management" is under control, teachers can teach in any way they want.

There are limitations to both models.

Problem with Model 1: I'd sum up the problem in the first model by calling it "the teacher is always wrong," when it comes to curriculum and pedgagogy.  The mandates are implemented as a means of controlling teaching quality, and teachers' professional opinions are generally not considered helpful in this process.  This makes no sense, since the teacher is the one doing the teaching, knows the students, and ultimately does make the decisions.  Attempting to shutting out teachers' critical thinking is a big waste of our knowledge, and it can backfire in a variety of ways. 

Problem with Model 2: I'm going to sound weird here, but the limitation is more that this model considers that "the teacher is always right."  I'm a strong advocate for teacher voice, and I don't like teachers being told how to teach through hierarchical structures.   But in schools where every teacher determines curriculum and methods for him or her self, there is often an unspoken statement that all practices are equally effective, and that all teachers will take time to read up on developments in the field. This is not really true. While the notion that there are actually "best practices" may be bogus, there are certainly "better" practices.  In model 2, teachers may not see it as their business what another teacher does unless they are in a formal collaboration--and of course time is a big obstacle. 

While I definitely prefer model 2 to model 1, because of the freedom, in both models, the overarching problem is a lack of real discourse about teaching practice.

I think the onus actually falls on teachers to change this, though administrators can provide time and structures for such conversations to happen.  I think teachers should have a lot more discussion about what we do and why we do it.  This will naturally lead to arguments, and we should let these play out in a professional manner.  If we do not discuss and disagree about "best practices," whether we work in a school that resembles Model 1 or Model 2, others will do the arguing for us, out there in the non-school-based education world, and dominate the discourse.  

At the same time, inside our schools, teachers, administrators, and parents will be left to come to the dangerous and somewhat insulting conclusion that teachers are more or less successful due to their personalities.  While personality does affect teaching, this misconception leads to the false claim that teaching is an innate talent that doesn't develop over time with hard work and help from mentors, professional reading and... professional discourse.  This ideology is one of the factors that keeps teaching from being a full profession. 

So, for our own sake, and for the sake of our students, let's have some of those arguments! 

 

[image credit: community.sparknotes.com]

Comments

[TeachMoore]

Ariel,
You are so right on with this one. We need more professional, critical conversations among us educators about the work of teaching and learning. Some of that is emerging in the social media and PLNs. Such discussions are not for the touchy or insecure, but respectful disagreements over the hows and whys of teaching will make us all better at what we love to do.

Hopefully, we could set a better example for our students of civic and professional discourse than what our politicians are exhibiting.

[Marsha]

Oh my gosh Ariel,

You said it just as I think and believe it. Do you think the hurdle is that people perceive that hashing it out (arguing) only is perceived as having winners and losers? or that people don't get it's the journey and the discourse????

I would also think doing this would help us be better communicators with parents. We could develop Telfon skin and not think the world will end if people disagree with us. Disagreement can sharpen my understanding of my position as I come to better understand yours.

And I can still like and respect you even if I disagree with you on something.

THANKS for writing this all important article.

[Bill Ivey]

Great piece, Ariel. In my school, we are working to design a new system for faculty evaluation, and I have been quietly working to promote the idea that the system should be part of a growth model built on individual needs. I was asked to facilitate a mandatory in-service last Monday, with six suggested readings from which each teacher could choose. We had group discussions around the readings and shared main ideas and thoughts all together. Then we did some reflective writing about our own practice (what's going well and where we see the need for improvement) following which we paired up to talk about those ideas. Finally, we brainstormed a list of topics and questions that would merit further exploration. The idea is that this will lead to further conversations, in different forums, and help us begin to build a more active and interactive learning community. (The idea was also to demonstrate some democratic classroom practices.)

I don't think we've gotten to the stage of discomfort yet - we're pretty respectful of each other and pretty able to listen effectively, for one thing - and maybe it's better to take the first steps in a relatively safe environment anyway. And - one last thought - we are a pretty strongly mission-driven school, and that provides a useful anchor for these discussions. If what you're doing is serving the mission and is working, that's a great place to start.

[David B. Cohen]

I'm a late arrival to this post but I concur wholeheartedly with every word! Thanks for such a concise view of the situation I think many of us face. I'd love to have more argument (in the best sense of the word) in my school and district. In some ways I'm a total outlier, and I think I can make a compelling case to bring more teachers over to some of my practices. Ironically, I've found an audience when I presented my work at a pair of conferences, but not as much in my own department. I won't go into all the reasons it hasn't happened yet, but I hope it will and I'm trying to move the process along.

[An Richie]

Yes this is very true, its the teachers who are the front liners of education, they are the ones who know the needs of the students and the like. So any changes that the department and the government are planning, the teachers should be consulted first and enough trainings must be given to the teachers.

[Alcott Rodarte]

I agree with you, An. Teachers should be informed if there are changes to be made especially if those changes involve them. And oh, students should always be the first priority on any changes to be made.

[Wallner Yun]

Yes, there should be a thorough discussion and conversation or more arguments regarding with this issue in order to come up with the best design in teaching. And yes, students and their needs should be considered first in redesigning programs in education.