The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.
Anna Quindlen
We’ve been going about school improvement all wrong. Education thought it could accelerate teacher growth through carrots and sticks, such as paying for performance and implementing sanctions for “failing schools.” Teacher evaluation systems, which divide instruction into bite-sized, measurable components, are little better. Principals and other supervisors go into a classroom looking for indicators of success and often miss the big picture.
In my 12th year as a school administrator, I have moved toward an appreciative stance when it comes to monitoring instruction. Teaching is complex; simplifying it only devalues the profession. My mantra that I continue to ask myself is, How would I want to be supported by my principal if I was still teaching? When I think back to my days in a multi-age fifth- and sixth-grade classroom, the following principles come to mind:
- The leader co-develops the beliefs, commitments, and values for the school with teachers.
- The leader notices what teachers are doing well in relation to the school’s beliefs and values.
- The leader is in classrooms frequently and has taken the “instructional pulse” of the building.
- The leader engages in professional dialogue with teachers, listening attentively and asking questions before offering advice.
- The leader is willing and able to have candid conversations with teachers who are struggling, with the intent of facilitating improvement.
- The leader is also a teacher, co-leading professional development with other teachers that fosters authentic reflection and meaningful learning with faculty.
- The leader builds leadership capacity in all staff in order to continuously examine knowledge and practices to ensure that high-quality instruction reigns in the school.
These actions may seem straightforward. What the challenge has been for me is maintaining this leadership stance toward teacher growth. We are in an environment that demands that students score well on tests while also enjoying their educational experience. I don’t believe these two outcomes are mutually exclusive; my point is that school leaders can quickly follow one of these pathways at the expense of the other.
That is why I choose to stay focused on building the capacity of our teachers. Providing reinforcement for what they are doing well while also supporting them in new professional learning experiences has been the only pathway I have found toward school-wide success. Next is a description of one activity that both celebrates what teachers are doing well and helps them reflect on their work in order to consider possible areas for growth. This can be conducted during a short staff meeting of 20 minutes or so.
Celebration—Picture Walk
We had planned to conduct an environmental literacy walk in our school. This activity would have teachers in mixed teams walking the school and noting indicators of our literacy beliefs in action. For example, if staff observed student-created books in a kindergarten classroom library, they would write this down next to the belief statement “For struggling readers, reading their own writing is often their first successful reading experience.”
With winter weather canceling our day to engage in an environmental walk, a leadership team member suggested I do a picture walk instead. This one-day event involves me walking around the school, visiting every learning space, and using my smartphone to capture evidence of our beliefs in action. Then I upload the images to a slide deck and label each one with the literacy belief depicted. This is a slice of our daily literacy lives, a spot-check with positive intent.
It’s important that I captured and shared an example from every classroom. I admit that it was easier to find our beliefs in action in some classrooms than in others. Yet by celebrating everyone’s efforts as I shared our examples of practice during our staff meeting, I was able to document that we were moving in the same direction toward a common goal of authentic reading and writing instruction for all students.
Reflection—Aligning Beliefs with Practices and Resources
After the celebratory slides, I shared a table that conveyed how frequently each belief was observed during my picture walk. “As you can see, our beliefs are well distributed across our classrooms.” I did also note, without judgment, that two of our beliefs were not evident.
This slide transitioned to a short explanation of why we take the time to examine our beliefs and practices about literacy. Research shared visually showed how professionals who want to improve their practice must take time to reflect on their work. Our identities as educators become intertwined with who we are as people, an integration of work and personal lives. I started the activity with these words:
We become attached to our practices because we believe them to be effective. When new information suggests better ways to accomplish our work, we sometimes see it as an affront to ourselves. We have to practice self-compassion and understand that we are doing the best we know right now. That is okay. Yet it is also important that when we are presented with new ideas for instruction, we consider trying and applying them and determine if they are more effective for our kids.
After explaining the why, I presented the template for teachers to examine their beliefs. They were guided to write down their current literacy practices (such as guided reading and conferring) along the same row in which they thought each one aligned with one of our shared beliefs. On the right side was a third column where teachers would write resources they used for the given belief and practice. Click here to download a copy of our template.
Near the end of the meeting, I encouraged teachers to share their reflections with a colleague. They could also upload the agenda from that day’s staff meeting as evidence to support their work in their professional evaluation portfolio.
In a standardized and quantified educational environment, it is easy to fall into the mental trap of thinking our work should be perfect. Outsiders want to quantify our complex organizations for easier evaluation. That’s not realistic. We work with people—kids, colleagues, families—who all bring their own idiosyncrasies, needs, and interests. We have expectations, but they are in service to our students and should be driven by our examined beliefs about how each child best learns today. By facilitating celebration and reflection with the faculty, we can appreciate our journey toward collective excellence and develop a better understanding of our impact.
