Sara Bonser: An Awakening

It is a rather humbling and overwhelming feeling to be studying school improvement at a campus such as Harvard. It is a perfect example of what high expectations can do to improve student performance—even for a campus principal. Since arriving four days ago, it is amazing that we have read hundreds of pages of research, case studies, and revision after revision of a problem statement we are trying to solve and wake up eager to learn more every day.

The classroom atmosphere has been lively, engaging and thought provoking. If only all classrooms could be as interesting and motivating. If only all students would wish to do the work involved for the sake of learning rather than because it is required. In the world of education, this principal has had an “awakening” of what the classroom is intended to do: motivate, engage, inspire and instruct. Each task that we are assigned has a purpose and is intended to make us work and think. There are no easy answers. I believe that this experience has helped in the most ultimate way: we have learned that without the study and focus of instructional practice, no amount of resource, great teachers, or professional development will prepare our students for their lives in the 21st Century.

In the standards-based society that we are living in, we have placed a burden on an educational system that was never designed to meet such a demand. In addition, we have not reciprocally responded with a measure of support for our teachers and students to help them meet these standards-based demands. The accountability system has a place in drawing attention to groups of students that have been under-served by our system, however, it should not set the bar for student achievement. Our students will need much more knowledge and skill to maintain a standard of living in their lives and the lives of their children. In order to attain the ability to compete in the world market, our children must exceed “standard expectations” and be prepared to function in a world where they will solve problems, out-think computers, and “out-people” out-sourced jobs. There will be jobs in America for our children, the questions are, will they be ready for those jobs and are our schools currently designed to meet the needs of the jobs that will be available? To answer those questions, we must take a closer look at what happens behind the doors of the school and more importantly, behind the doors of the classrooms.

One of the first things you might notice in today’s classroom is a lack of student engagement. In fact, it is one of the most common things you hear from teachers today: “Students these days just don’t care, don’t do the work or are just plain lazy.” Whatever the explanation, it cannot allow us to shift responsibility from the classroom to outside factors. We are the professionals and we are responsible for the education of the student, whatever the circumstances—much like a doctor is when we enter their doors for medical treatment. Students’ expectations of what is “interesting” to them have changed. Teachers are competing with video games, cable television, and internet, which have captured students’ attention almost without effort. These things have changed the nature of “teaching.” No longer is it possible for a teacher to stand and teach and for a student to sit and passively accept information and knowledge. We must ask, “What are we asking students to do with the knowledge and information we give them?” It is the transfer of agency in the classroom from the teacher to the student that will have an impact on the student and create the student engagement teachers crave more than anything in their classroom! In order to achieve this level of student engagement, it is necessary for teachers to give up some control to the students and put them in charge of their learning. It is a place many teachers are reluctant to go and a place that administrators fear pressing on in light of teacher retention issues. The price for not engaging students is our students’ (and our) futures.

Certainly it will be necessary to engage teachers in the most effective professional development possible. While learning from the experts, attending workshops and reading “expert information” is worthwhile, only about 10% of this information is retained or put into practice “after the workshop.” The further away from the classroom that professional development occurs, the less likely it is to have a direct impact on student achievement. Much to the dismay of many professional development “circuit” speakers, the key to true professional learning actually lies within each school itself. It costs little and is the foundation of a professional learning community. When teachers can observe, describe and reflect on their teaching and the teaching of others in their building with their colleagues, the language of teaching emerges and authentic professional learning can emerge.

While we are all in search of the “magic bullet” for school improvement or high school redesign, the answer for our schools does not lie in the structures that we build or the programs that we fund. The answer to true reform is the reform that takes place within each teacher and within each classroom in our high school. When we understand that school reform is about instructional practices, only then will we begin to truly prepare our students for the future they will face in a world we cannot begin to describe.

Sara Bonser