Robin Glowatz's List: CFF articles

• would have the responsibility for conceptualization of learning communities within the school, for the development of a coherent curriculum � and have the primary responsibility for the implementation of a substantive professional development program
• • Personalized learning
   
  • Real-world application of knowledge through contextual learning
   
  • Professional learning communities to promote shared decision making and continuous learning
   
  • Democratic decision making
   
  • Community engagement
• something needed to be done to enable staff members to rise above destructive communication patterns that came from a sense of helplessness and fear
• Research has shown that students' emotional safety is critical for them to learn. Boly emphasizes that attention to the development of positive staff and student relationships is crucial to creating a culture of mutual trust and respect because "we can't create safe classrooms unless there is trust at every level."

  • absolutely... this makes total sense to me. Unless the teachers feel that the school environment is safe for them, they will be unlikely to truly be comfortable themselves, which will pass along to the students.
• Critical Friends Group Model
• protocols as peer observation and feedback
• "The power to impact school action, thus the community, has allowed me to express my interests and make a difference."

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• teamwork, goals, and the selective and judicious use of data.
• collegiality is not a "legitimate end in itself unless it can be shown to affect...the nature or degree of pupil development"
• The crush of what Lortie calls "presentism" —of myriad daily events and duties—kept us from reflecting collaboratively on such obvious and challenging concerns as how to teach composition more effectively, how to conduct discussions about literature more effectively, and how to make literature exciting.
• Day-to-day concerns kept us from reflecting on what our most important goals should be.
• Such boundaries introduce a "conservative bias," which is the enemy of risk and innovation and a recipe for perpetuating the status quo at a time when change is manifestly necessary
• The solutions to many local, personal, and logistical problems simply aren't spelled out in the research
• Unproductive, unrewarding meetings—we have all been to them. And because of these experiences, many people simply do not believe that teams perform better than individuals.
• I argue that the most common configurations of teacher-to-teacher interaction may do more to bolster isolation than to diminish it; the culture that Lortie described as individualistic, present oriented, and conservative is thus not altered but is indeed perpetuated by the most prevalent examples of teacher collaboration and exchange

  • social interactions--downstairs
• Effective collaboration is really action research—carefully conducted experimentation with new practices and assessment of them.
• Too many meetings begin with no reference to commitments made at the last meeting.
• For starters, learning always requires a measure of humility.

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• They suggest six types of involvement schools can embrace as part of their school-improvement planning process to enhance student achievement: parenting, communicating, learning at home, decision making, and collaboration
• These groups may include: students, assistant principals, related arts teachers, career and technical teachers, instructional and special education aides, outdoor play supervisors, school security officers, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, and custodial staff. These people care about, interact with, and reach students every day. They may have insights that can help us round out our knowledge of the students in our classrooms. Their perspectives could help teachers better serve all students, yet many of these school community members are not part of school improvement or strategic planning initiatives in our schools.
• textbook publishers and vendors, politicians, taxpayers, local scout masters, recreational sports coaches, police officers, clergy, social service agency personnel, medical professionals, librarians, and neighborhood watch associations
• Group members will participate to the degree they feel included, according to their perceived sphere of influence in the group and the value they attach to their ability to contribute to the group. Our challenge is to make sure all group members feel equally invited to be instrumental members. (Weisbord, 2004)

  • Especially: "the value they attach to their ability to contribute to the group." Interesting-- see other groups and participants and how much they are willing to participate. Sometimes--relates to the value they attach to the group. Sometimes (B.) --relates to the value they see their input as having. (cringe)
• Many initiatives enjoy initial enthusiasm and success among implementers, only to experience an implementation dip as time moves forward (Fullan, 2001). An implementation dip is a predictable part of any new initiative. It occurs when participants lose interest due to inattention and support, and revert back to their comfortable habits. Using tools like ICs can help identify and address the concerns that cause the shift in enthusiasm for an initiative.
• Implementation dips often occur with change in leadership or a shift in staff. Without constant monitoring and attending to the details of an initiative�the training and support needed for new staff, support and supplies needed for successful implementation, its place on staff and student agendas, and celebrations of successes�initiatives may never get out of the dip to become institutionalized best practices.

  • When Dana switches out of literacy coach...
• Experiencing too many initiatives stuck in the dip may cause learning community members to be cynical about progressive thinking.

• Aronson and Steil have distilled the �Big 8 principles� and the �8 also big principles� of successful large group meetings from The Handbook of Large Group Methods, by Bunker and Alban. These principles are:

   
   
  • Clarity of purpose
   
  • Active engagement, around real work and real decisions
   
  • System complete within the room
   
  • Development of a shared understanding of context
   
  • Self-management of working groups
   
  • Discovery of common ground
   
  • Focus on the future
   
  • Equal standing of participants
   

  And �

     
  • Open (visible) data and data bases
   
  • Experience of the equal humanness of all participants
   
  • Transparent decision making
   
  • Full attendance (Each time a group changes participants, it is a new group.)
   
  • Development of group perspectives from individual data
   
  • Knowledge within the people
   
  • Conflict rationalization
   
  • Length of meeting is proportional to the breadth and complexity of purpose and the degree of system fragmentation (Aronson and Steil, 2006)

6 more annotations...