Making Sense of the Complex

Many public educators are feeling overwhelmed by all the initiatives coming our way. I too get anxious when I think about everything we are expected to do. A conspiracy theorist might suggest that some people in power might want us in this frame of mind, but I try to stay focused on what I can control.

photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lamzah/3795554949/

I am reading a terrific resource titled Embedded Formative Assessment by Dylan Wiliam (Solution Tree, 2011). Here is one of my favorite passages so far:

Trying to change students' classroom experience through changes in curriculum is very difficult. A bad curriculum well taught is invariably a better experience for students than a good curriculum badly taught: pedagogy trumps curriculum. Or more precisely, pedagogy is curriculum, because what matters is how things are taught, rather than what is taught. (p 13)

Couldn't you replace "curriculum" with "standards"? I know this quote helps me keep things in perspective. I don't know who said it, but good schools are only collections of good teachers. I am happy and feel fortunate that I work in the school that I do.