© copyright 2008 tony wagner, clg, harvard university 1 “reinventing” teaching & learning...
Post on 19-Dec-2015
214 views
TRANSCRIPT
© Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University 1
“Reinventing” Teaching & Learning
Tony Wagner, Co-Director
Change Leadership Group
Harvard University, Graduate School of Education
www.gse.harvard.edu/clg
© Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University 2
“The formulation of the problem is often more essential than the solution.” Einstein
What is the “crisis” in American public
education really all about—what’s the
“problem”? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
Their schools are the
problem, not ours!
High School
reform is just
another fad.
Incremental change is the only way to go
© Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University 3
The New Educational Challenges: “The Rock & The Hard Place”
• The Rock: NEW SKILLS for Work, Continuous Learning & Citizenship in a “knowledge society” for ALL STUDENTS
– Convergence of skills needed for work, citizenship, & further learning: (e.g. communication, analysis, problem-solving, ability to work collaboratively)
– Students lacking skills relegated to marginal employment & citizenship
• The Hard Place: The “Net Generation” is differently motivated to learn
– Kids accustomed to instant gratification and “always-on” connection
– Kids constantly creating and multitasking in a multimedia world—everywhere except in school
– Less fear and respect for authority—want coaching, but also transparency
• Re-Framing the Problem: Reform vs. Reinvention
– We do not know how to teach ALL students NEW skills. This is a new education challenge that requires development of new professional knowledge, new school structures, and new ways of working together.
© Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University 4
AYP Versus Attainment…The Numbers That Matter Most for Kids’ Futures
% of US Students Who Graduate From High School
• 79% of Asian Students
• 72% of Caucasian students
• 50% of African American & Hispanic students
Students Who Graduate “College-Ready”
• 1 in 3 Caucasian & Asian students (37%)
• 1 in 5 African American students (20%)
• 1 in 6 Hispanic students (16%)(Source: Greene & Forster, “Public High School Graduation & College Readiness Rates in the US, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, 2003 http://www.manhattan-institute.org/ewp_03.pdf)
© Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University 5
The “Basics” Perception Gap
77%66%
39%33%
74%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Students Teachers Parents Employers Professors
% saying a high school diploma means students have learned the basics (PAFReality Check 2002)
© Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University 6
A “Theory of Change”
• Students’ will not meet the performance standards for success in college and work unless and until teaching improves. More academic content standards, more testing, smaller schools, etc. do not, by themselves, improve teaching or students’ skills.
• Teachers working alone, with little or no feedback on their instruction, will not be able to improve significantly—no matter how much professional development they receive.
• The challenge of change leadership is to create a “system” for continuous improvement of instruction and supervision—rooted in a common vision of effective teaching, which is rigorous, relevant, and based on respectful, trusting relationships (the new 3 R’s)
© Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University 7
THE NEW WORK: 7 DISCIPLINES FOR STRENGTHENING INSTRUCTION
1. The district or school creates understanding and urgency around
improving ALL students’ learning for teachers and community, and
they regularly report on progress.
– Data is disaggregated and transparent to everyone.
– Qualitative (focus groups & interviews) as well as quantitative data is used
to understand students’ and recent graduates’ experience of school.
2. There is a widely shared vision of what is good teaching which is
focused on rigor, the quality of student engagement (relevance), and
respectful, caring relationships for all students.
– Either developed by the district or by the school
3. All adult meetings are about instruction and are models of good
teaching.
© Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University 8
7 DISCIPLINES FOR STRENGTHENING INSTRUCTION Cont.
4. There are well-defined performance standards and assessments for student work at all grade levels. Both teachers and students understand what quality work looks like, and there is consistency in standards of assessment .
5. Supervision is frequent, rigorous, and entirely focused on the improvement of instruction. It is done by people who know what good teaching looks like.
6. Professional Development is primarily on-site, intensive, collaborative, and job-embedded and is designed and led by educators who model best teaching and learning practices.
7. Data is used diagnostically at frequent intervals by teams of teachers to assess each student’s learning and to identify the most effective teaching practices, and teams have time built into their schedules for this shared work.
© Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University 9
Teaching Video Discussion 1
1. Was this an effective lesson? (Before
discussion, place the grade (A—F) you’d give
this lesson on a 3x5 card to be collected)
2. Discuss at your tables or with your neighbor
your criteria for determining the
effectiveness of the lesson
© Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University 10
“Reinventing” What & How We Teach:The New 3 “R’s” for the 21st Century
RIGOR
???
RELEVANCE
Helping students to understand why something is important to learn
Fostering curiosity & life-long learning by providing students opportunities to explore learning that is personally relevant to them
RELATIONSHIPS/RESPECT
Students won’t learn or work hard for teachers who do not respect them
You can’t motivate a student you don’t know
© Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University 11
Defining “Rigor”: Some Essential Questions
• What is rigor?
• What are teachers doing in a more rigorous classroom?
• What are students doing?
• What kinds of student work would be evidence of rigor?
• How might the definition of rigor be changing in an “information glut” world—what will be expected of our students?
© Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University 12
Excellent Instruction: A Point of View
• Excellent instruction is less about what a teacher
does (inputs) and more about what students can
do and know as a result of the lesson (results).
• In assessing the quality of a lesson, performance
standards are much more important than content
standards.
• Performance standards for students must be
benchmarked to what will be expected of HS
graduates
© Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University 13
Benchmarking Rigor: Work/College SkillsPublic Agenda Foundation “Reality Check” 2002 http://publicagenda.org/specials/rcheck2002/reality5.htm
73% 69% 72%63%
53% 49%
75% 74%
58%65%
51%
37%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
writing workhabits
motivation basic mathskills
curiosity respect
Employers Professors
Percent of Employers & Professors giving high school grads “poor” or “fair” ratings on:
© Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University 14
Benchmarking Rigor:
Employers View of What is Needed
What skills and content areas will be growing in importance in the next five years?
Critical Thinking 78%
I.T. 77%
Health & Wellness 76%
Collaboration 74%
Innovation 74%
Personal Financial Responsibility 72%
© Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University 15
Benchmarking Rigor: College View of What is Needed
College professors’ views of the skills students lack:
70% say students do not comprehend complex reading materials
66% say students cannot think analytically
65% say students lack appropriate work and study habits
62% say students write poorly
59% say students don’t know how to do research
55% say students can’t apply what they’ve learned to solve
problems2005 Achieve Inc. http://www.achieve.org/files/pollreport.pdf
© Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University 16
More Important Than Academic Content: The Competencies That Matter Most for College
From research conducted by David Conley on “College Knowledge”:
• Writing
• Reasoning
• Analytic Thinking
• Problem-solving
http://ceprnet.uoregon.edu
***
The Collegiate Learning Assessment—an online performance assessment of these core competencies:
http://www.cae.org/content/pro_collegiate.htm#
© Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University 17
Recent Grads Summary of What They Need
• Writing skills
• Study skills and time management
• Research skills
• Study group experience
What would your graduates say?
© Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University 18
Rigor in The Classroom: 5 “Habits of Mind” Learning to Ask The Right Questions
• Weighing Evidence
– How do we know what’s true and false? What is the evidence, and is it credible?
• Awareness of Varying Viewpoints
– What viewpoint are we hearing? Who is the author, and what are his or her intentions? How might it look to someone with a different history?
• Seeing Connections/Cause & Effect
– Is there a pattern? How are things connected? Where have we seen this before?
• Speculating on Possibilities/Conjecture
– What if? Supposing that? Can we imagine alternatives?
• Assessing Value—Both Socially and Personally
– What difference does it make? Who cares? So what?
From www.missionhillschool.org
© Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University 19
Teaching Video Discussion 2Calibrating Rigor
1. How would you assess the level
of rigor in this lesson (low,
medium, high)?
2. What is your evidence for this
assessment?
© Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University 20
Thinking Systemically & Working Strategically: 5 “Habits of Mind” for Change Leaders
1. What’s the problem you’re trying to solve?
– What does it have to do with improving teaching and learning?
– What data (qualitative & quantitative) have you used to understand the problem?
2. What is your strategy for solving this problem?
– Why did you choose this strategy? What others did you consider?
– Can you clearly explain your “theory of action” i.e. how you think this strategy will solve the problem you’ve identified?
3. Who (teachers, parents, community) needs to know what to “own” the problem and support the change work?
4. Who is accountable for what to solve this problem?
– What do they need to get the job done?
5. What data will you track to tell you whether you’re making progress in solving this problem?
© Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University 21
Implications for Change Leadership
We do not know how to teach “all students new skills.” The problem of “reinvention” requires the development of a
“knowledge-generating” culture and new leadership skills.
New Roles for School Leaders:
1) Ask the right questions, instead of having to have all the answers: POWERFUL QUESTIONS DRIVE LEARNING AND DEEP LEARNING DRIVES CHANGE
2) Resist being ‘reactive’: Stay focused on improving teaching!
3) Model the behaviors you want to encourage, such as seeking feedback, trust, & respect
4) Create “communities of practice” for improving teaching, leadership and collaborative problem-solving
© Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University 22
Sources/Resources/Further Readings
• Tony Wagner, Change Leadership: A Practical Guide for Transforming Our Schools (JosseyBass, 2005) and Making The Grade: Reinventing America’s Schools (New York: RoutledgeFalmer, 2001.) See also: www.schoolchange.org and a video on focus groups: “Creating Community Consensus: Dialogues for Learning & Engagement” http://www.seattleschools.org/area/ibc/tw.xml
***
• Anthony S. Bryk and Barbara Schneider, Trust in Schools: A Core Resource for Improvement (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2002)
• Ann Cook, “Looking for An Argument” Video, TC Press http://www.teacherscollegepress.com/teachertoteacher.html
• Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Reed Larson, Being Adolescent: Conflict and Growth in the Teenage Years (New York: Basic Books, 1984)
• Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence (New York: Bantam, 1995.) • Ron Heifetz, Leadership On The Line (Cambridge: Harvard Business
School Press, 2002)• John Kotter, The Heart of Change (Cambridge: HBS Press, 2002)
© Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner, CLG, Harvard University 23
Sources/Resources/Further Readings (cont.)
• Deborah Meier, The Power of Their Ideas (Boston: Beacon Press, 1996) & In Schools We Trust (Beacon, 2002)
• Richard Murnane and Frank Levy, Teaching The New Basic Skills, (New York: The Free Press, 1996,) & The New Division of Labor (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004)
• Public Agenda Foundation, “Where We Are Now: 12 Things you Need to Know About Public Opinion & Public Schools” (www.publicagenda.org)
• Robert Putman, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2000)
• James W. Stigler & James Hiebert, The Teaching Gap, (New York: Free Press, 1999)
• Wenger, E., & Snyder, W.M., “Communities of Practice: The Organizational Frontier,” Harvard Business Review, January 2000
• Daniel Yankelovich: The Magic of Dialogue: Transforming Conflict into Cooperation (New York: Touchstone, 1991)