To start of this chapter's discussion:
I know when I was reading this chapter there were several instances when I thought "this is so unfair!" as I compared the U.S. treatment and preparation of future and current educators to other countries like Finland and Sweden. What did you think were some of the most shocking (this can be shockingly good or bad) differences between the U.S. development of teachers and other countries' development of teachers?
Another question that arose while reading this chapter is can the United States actually change our current practices and implement Darling-Hammond's suggestions? This chapter is filled with excellent practices that have proven to work in other countries like the mentoring of beginning teachers and analyzing of videotapes regularly. Which of the ideas presented do you think are the most doable within our school system and could start to be implemented in the near future?
One of the many things I found shocking about the U.S. compared to other high-achieving nations was the amount of time teachers in other nations have to prepare and work with other teachers. Teachers from other nations spend "40 to 60% of their time preparing and learning to teach well..." while U.S. teachers barely have time to plan curriculum by themselves. This lack of planning time teachers have for class affects student's learning abilities since the teacher is unable to improve their practice. I also appreciated the idea of a mentor teacher for first time teachers since teaching is best learned by watching and doing.
ReplyDeleteI had the same thought as Jazmin. I was shocked that the OECD average in secondary schools for number of instructional hours was 664, while the average in the U.S. was 1080. It never really occurred to me that teachers elsewhere might have more time to plan curriculum, gain additional training, critique their own lesson plans and classroom teaching, and generally learn to improve their teaching. I'm reminded of my high school teachers, who would spend their short planning period tutoring students, frantically trying to grade quizzes, or running to the copy room to try go get some materials prepped for the next day. Often they ended up sacrificing that small amount of time just to chat with students who wanted to visit with them. So much work goes into teaching that must be done outside of class time, and it makes so much sense to give teachers several hours during the school day to take care of everything. We could do this in the United States by hiring more teachers, and having each teacher teach fewer classes. However, I'm not sure how feasible that is with our economy and disparities between districts; I know that the high school I attended just switched from a block schedule to a 7-period schedule so that teachers could teach MORE classes.
ReplyDeleteI also noticed that LDH mentions how teacher professional development opportunities in the United States tend to be short term, and these "appear to have no effect on teachers' effectiveness, while a variety of well-designed content-specific opportunities averaging about 49 hours [as opposed to the short 14 hours] over a 6- to 12-month period of time were associated with sizable gains." (204-205) If teachers in the U.S. had more planning time, they would be able to participate in these longer programs.
I think what first must be addressed is the amount of time teachers spend in front of a class. There will not be time for effective professional development programming, mentoring of beginning teachers, or analyzing videotapes and lesson plans when teachers only have one hour off from teaching classes during the work day.
I liked your commentary about how your high school just switched from a block schedule to a 7 period schedule. When I was a junior in high school my school did a trial of a block schedule since we traditionally always had 8 periods in a day. During the trial, I loved having only 4 periods a day to really dive into the material and have enough time to really grasp the lesson. I also felt as though I was able to get to know my teachers more. For some reason that I never understood, after the trial, my school decided not to switch to the block schedule. My teachers were furious at this decision. All 8 of my teachers said that they voted for the block schedule.
DeleteNeedless to say, I agree with you, Katelyn. I think the amount of time teachers spend in front of the classroom is an important factor for teacher development. Initially, I didn't make the connection between having more off periods and mentoring of beginning teachers or analyzing videotapes. I originally equated off periods to more planning time, which is also helpful. Even as a college student I have realized that I am more effective during the school day rather than in the evenings when I would rather be socializing, going out to dinner, or watching TV. I get much more done in my breaks between classes. Teachers do need more time off during the day to not only get everything done, but to also continue professional development. I just wish I had a solution.
For me there is something to this ‘in front of the class time”, too, Haley and Katelyn. I think it is about re-educating the public, and maybe ourselves – the profession, about what the work of a teacher is. It is so much more than delivering a lesson. It sounds like you are beginning to understand that a lot happens behind the scenes. Planning good lessons, learning more about one’s content area and about pedagogy (how one teaches) are all the work of the teacher. I would also include the reflection piece – taking time to ask what happened, what sense am I making of it, and what might I do differently next time. Teaching is very complex and intellectual work. We need to change the story we tell ourselves and others about what good teaching looks like and what it takes to make it happen.
DeleteI can't wait to talk to the German teachers when they are hear to get a better idea of both teacher preparation as well as the time and work of teachers once in the job. There must be pros and cons. There is also an interesting documentary called "The Finland Effect" if you want to watch it sometime - you can borrow it from me or could have a movie watching gathering. :) I can offer my house or we can do it after school or some other time...
DeleteOne phrase that made me think of positive ways to change our schools was the "reflective cycle". In the comment by Katelyn about teachers having a limited time to plan, I had the thought that planning at its core also requires detailed reflection ( in order to improve future lessons etc). The idea that an entire school needs to be a part of a " cycle of self-responsible planning, action and reflection/evaluation" makes me think that the more teachers can objectively look at not only the students work, but think critically about how they are teaching and how other faculty members are teaching,can greatly impact the schools community. After all if only one half of novice teachers receive meaningful mentoring, maybe one small solution would be to use reflection in more conversation and assessment, to not only help new teachers and move towards transparency in teaching practices, but also help teachers gain confidence.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! I think reflective discourse has the power to change practice. And if whole schools participated in it, imagine the changes that could be made! Such a simple thing that could result in real transformation! And it could be done fairly economically if it were incorporated into the regular work of schools, such as in department or faculty meetings.
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