I.
Academic Visioning
The Academic Visioning Committee has been formed as a
logical outgrowth from the Strategic Planning process. The committee’s objectives are:
- Identify innovative & strategic opportunities regarding the academic future of the institution
- Collaborate with stakeholders
- Promote creative thinking
- Set the standard rather than wait and see, be a leader not a follower
- Accept the reality that the future is going to change given the tools available to teachers and learners
Strategic Plan Objectives:
- Academic excellence
- Rigorous curriculum
- Student achievement
- Integration of technology
- Adoption of 21st century learning & instructional methodology
- Increase enrollment through successful differentiation
What is the former model of instruction?
- Students listen, teachers lecture (teacher does the work)
- Emphasis on knowledge & comprehension
- Minimal technology
- Minimal interactivity
- Paper and pen/pencil based
- Resources scarce
- Location impacts resource availability
What are the basic principles / objectives of any model of
instruction that we must retain?
- Academic excellence
- Rigorous curriculum
- College prep/student achievement
- Teacher as value-added : more than presentation of information & knowledge
o
Faith and character formation
o
Challenging and affirming
o
Interactive
o
Inspires students to achieve beyond their
expectations
Here is the “classic” listing of characteristics
that we expect of a professional educator at Brother Rice High School.
1.
Commitment to the mission of Catholic education
2.
Willingness to serve as a Christian role model
3. Loves
students unconditionally
4. Works in
the best interests of the students
5. Respects
the dignity of every student
6. Is
optimistic about students and their future
7. Maintains
high expectations within a rigorous curriculum
8. Challenges
students to achieve excellence in everything they do
9. Teaches
students to be accountable
10. Is affirming and encouraging
11. Is passionate and
enthusiastic
12. Communicates effectively
13. Is a lifelong learner
14. Is willing to innovate for the
benefit of student achievement
15. Demonstrates professional
competency in their subject matter
Additional
expectations of a professional educator in the 21st century:
1.
Promotes the Four C’s: Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Creativity and
Communication
2.
Regularly utilizes the Internet to communicate student information: Grades,
homework, schedule, etc.
3.
Daily class activities are designed to be engaging and interactive. A
teacher-centered learning environment in which lecture is the primary
methodology is no longer acceptable.
4.
Promotes the use of technology for asynchronous learning – Research, Writing,
Online practice tests, video & podcast lectures, etc.
5.
Integrates technology into the learning experience
6.
Supports the transition to digital books & resources
7.
Dramatically reduces the use of paper and significantly increases the use of
electronic resources (i.e. pdf files)
8.
Seeks professional development opportunities to enhance their understanding of
21 st century learning techniques
·
Professional Learning Communities
o
Departmental collaboration
o
Core curriculum defined – what do they need to
know
o
Effective Assessment – how do I know that they
know
o
Supplemental – what do we do when they don’t
know
·
Differentiated Learning / Customized Learning /
Learning Styles
Two areas for focus & investigation:
11.
Micro – What is the 21st century model of
instruction?
·
21st century attributes:
o
Collaboration
o
Critical thinking
o
Creation
o
Communication
o
Computer integration
- Will a new model of instruction improve student achievement, increase student motivation, promote higher enrollment, be leading or bleeding edge?
- What are the essential methodologies that a professional 21st century educator dedicated to excellence and student achievement should utilize on a day to day basis?
- Will the combination of a professional instructor who is a role model in matters of character and faith be the primary value-added role of the teacher, or will the teacher’s role change?
·
One idea – the “Flipped” classroom
o
Pre-Class:
- Teacher presentation of information available online
- Student readings available online or electronically
- Interactive practice tests available online
o
Class
- Interactive
- Engaged
- Activity-based
- Problem-solving
- Critical thinking
- Collaborative
- Creative
o
Post-Class
- Communication
- Blogging
- Emails
- Research
- Pace supplement
- Video
- Reading
- Online practice
- Peer support/tutoring
o
Assessment
- Testing for mastery
- Individual or collective achievement of learning objectives (pace).
- Online or hybrid?
- One to one with technology?
- 45 minutes daily on each subject or?
- Only “time” for six or seven courses?
- Master teacher for everyone in one subject with teachers for daily meetings?
- Will everyone be on the same pace? Will a semester define the awarding of a credit, or will the demonstration of mastery earn credits?
- Will 24 credits be the minimum after four years?
- Will the future financial model represent the same basics of the current era - 80% of cost is labor, 22-1 student teacher ratio.
- How will the school of the future deliver instructional excellence to its students?
o
Will
class sizes increase or decrease?
- The primary driver of our business/financial model is teacher-student ratio. If we adopt the college model of a 250 person lecture class, I am certain that we could drive our costs down and pay fewer teachers much better, but I am not convinced that such an impersonal setting would benefit any of our students. Nevertheless, are there ways for us to improve our “productivity” and reduce costs given the tools that are available?
o
Will
a teacher’s full-time job responsibilities remain the same in the future?
Will five classes of roughly 22 students constitute the primary learning entity
in the school, or are there alternatives? Could we have a master teacher
produce learning sessions for larger class sizes and have smaller
work/discussion groups with teacher aides similar to the college model?
Every study indicates that the most important element in secondary education is
the adult leading the learning in the classroom – how do we enhance or promote
this going forward?
- Imagine the following “flipped classroom” scenario – what if every lecture/presentation by the teacher was available on video and that daily “homework” was reading and watching the videos at home while the class sessions were dedicated to interactive activities in which problem-solving, critical thinking, collaborative opportunities for creation and communication on computing devices – is there a way that this could be done to alter the current five periods a day of 22 kids full-time assignment that would improve learning or assessment? One of the challenges of proper assessment is that if you don’t know your students, how do you properly assess them, especially if higher order thinking is included in the process?
o
Will
the school year be longer or shorter? What about the school day? Will a
student attend 6-7 classes with 22 other students every day where a teacher is
leading the class, or will there be an alternative/hybrid that produces higher
student achievement and changes the current business model of instruction?
o
Would
we offer online classes of shorter duration during the year or perhaps during
the summer to supplement learning or push everyone into calculus by their
senior year or to enable students to move on to college faster?
o
Will
one teacher or a team of teachers instruct students in an individual subject?
o
Will
the class be held daily in a particular location or online or both?
o
Will
the mastery of the material at an individual pace take precedence or replace
the current “collective pace” that places students on a four year, 24 credit
track regardless of the speed with which they learn?
o
Will
the social aspect of learning remain an essential aspect of the secondary
learning process?
o
Can
a faith-based institution adjust the 22-1 ratio of teacher to student upwards
without losing the benefit of our unique value add?
o
Can
we afford to wait and watch, or is it imperative that we think and plan and act
accordingly?
§
What
are the risks of being on the “bleeding edge”?
Whatever path we choose, will we do so collectively as a
conscious choice or will we continue to point ourselves in a collective
direction but allow our individual faculty members the individual and daily
choices that have historically defined the educational process? Do we
need the pioneers to guide the rest of us, or do we consciously and
deliberately make a school-wide choice and “bet the farm” on an approach that
is on the leading edge?
Whatever path we choose,
the path must include the following:
a. Faith & character
development
b. Spiritual and social
formation
c. Rigorous curriculum
d. Challenging and
affirming
e. Faculty as role models
f.
21st
century education
- Creative
- Collaborative
- Critical thinking
- Communication emphasized
- Computers integrated
- Do we need to be more definitive, or would we be better served by empowering our teachers to work within these “guidelines”?
No comments:
Post a Comment