This squares with my experience, Matt. Part of the reason the Writing Projects in California have had such a strong effect on instruction is the direct result of efforts to work with school administrators. Literacy is such a core part of the curriculum--in many ways the engine of learning--I do believe it holds such importance for learning across the curriculum that a principal with knowledge of current thinking about literacy instruction could have a huge impact on learning outcomes--even if measurement tools are not as sensitive as we might like.
I appreciate this point, Terry. I had a similar experience partnering with a university to provide action research PD for district teachers. My role as a principal was to sit in and listen while teachers talked and collaborated around driving questions. (I also did a lot of back-end work such as scheduling, organizing food for after school sessions, and generally trying to make the learning happen without a hitch.) When I did have a moment, I facilitated reflective interviews with some teachers to help them clarify their question and consider possibly plans for study. I learned a lot about literacy within the classroom experience, a reciprocal process for us all.
It’s all about professional learning in communities, no doubt. You flesh it out well in your experience narrated above. I want you to reflect on the sit in and listen strategy and map out some optional protocols or looks at that. Silence as a consciously deployed leadership strategy is a real opportunity to learn. Seems like there are a lot of flavors of silence, purposes? maybe? techniques? I remember when you wrote about sitting and listening when you were at a conference in Arizona… You scoped out your internal monologue while you were listening to this group of teachers discuss some aspect of SoR… I’d like to read more about your personal experiences, especially in relation to kids and writing, teachers and classroom libraries.
Administrators can pick up a lot by osmosis—just imagine what could happen with intention in place. I was one of 15 reading specialists working out of a district office not to work with kids but to work with principals and with their direction to negotiate my role with teachers, some of whom were required to work with me. Because there were so few of us serving a large district, the Superintendent designed our unit to essentially educate the principals as the key to reaching the teachers. It was a gorgeous design! I learned more than anyone I think, but it did not take long to win over the principals. I sat in many an office just talking about reading and writing one-on-one. My respect for a strong administrator in terms of a real lever for literacy pedagogy, and, yes, they shouldn’t have to become reading specialists nor pass a test in reading instruction to get administrative clearance, but they should have access to expertise in literacy processes and practices as part of the black box of the school district. How else could they possibly keep up as they do the back-end work that keeps toilet paper in the bathrooms? (Sorry, Matt, I couldn’t resist:)
Thanks Terry, lots of food for thought here. I especially appreciate, "Administrators can pick up a lot by osmosis—just imagine what could happen with intention in place."
This squares with my experience, Matt. Part of the reason the Writing Projects in California have had such a strong effect on instruction is the direct result of efforts to work with school administrators. Literacy is such a core part of the curriculum--in many ways the engine of learning--I do believe it holds such importance for learning across the curriculum that a principal with knowledge of current thinking about literacy instruction could have a huge impact on learning outcomes--even if measurement tools are not as sensitive as we might like.
I appreciate this point, Terry. I had a similar experience partnering with a university to provide action research PD for district teachers. My role as a principal was to sit in and listen while teachers talked and collaborated around driving questions. (I also did a lot of back-end work such as scheduling, organizing food for after school sessions, and generally trying to make the learning happen without a hitch.) When I did have a moment, I facilitated reflective interviews with some teachers to help them clarify their question and consider possibly plans for study. I learned a lot about literacy within the classroom experience, a reciprocal process for us all.
It’s all about professional learning in communities, no doubt. You flesh it out well in your experience narrated above. I want you to reflect on the sit in and listen strategy and map out some optional protocols or looks at that. Silence as a consciously deployed leadership strategy is a real opportunity to learn. Seems like there are a lot of flavors of silence, purposes? maybe? techniques? I remember when you wrote about sitting and listening when you were at a conference in Arizona… You scoped out your internal monologue while you were listening to this group of teachers discuss some aspect of SoR… I’d like to read more about your personal experiences, especially in relation to kids and writing, teachers and classroom libraries.
Administrators can pick up a lot by osmosis—just imagine what could happen with intention in place. I was one of 15 reading specialists working out of a district office not to work with kids but to work with principals and with their direction to negotiate my role with teachers, some of whom were required to work with me. Because there were so few of us serving a large district, the Superintendent designed our unit to essentially educate the principals as the key to reaching the teachers. It was a gorgeous design! I learned more than anyone I think, but it did not take long to win over the principals. I sat in many an office just talking about reading and writing one-on-one. My respect for a strong administrator in terms of a real lever for literacy pedagogy, and, yes, they shouldn’t have to become reading specialists nor pass a test in reading instruction to get administrative clearance, but they should have access to expertise in literacy processes and practices as part of the black box of the school district. How else could they possibly keep up as they do the back-end work that keeps toilet paper in the bathrooms? (Sorry, Matt, I couldn’t resist:)
Thanks Terry, lots of food for thought here. I especially appreciate, "Administrators can pick up a lot by osmosis—just imagine what could happen with intention in place."