With the chapters of
The Art of Possibility, I understood the reference to a conductor not knowing his orchestra, as I was once part of an orchestra. When there is a performance, the conductor and principal chairs (the 1st seated and usually best player in that section) receive the kudos. I think that this can reflect in the classroom. When a particular teacher's students gets high marks on a standardized test, it may be the teacher or the principal that gets the accolades, not the students nor the parents. That is why in many professional development and master's courses in education, the word "facilitator" is stressed so much. Instead of being the frontrunner or the one who takes all of the credit, be the run who "runs" with the group and helps along as needed.
As I read this book, it does reflect on emotions, moods, and how our personalities may effect others. These are great things to think about not just as people, but as educators who have the ability to effect many lives. We need to be able to "forget" our troubles for the moment, which yes, is a hard feat in itself, and focus on the lives that we can shape, so then they will be able to spread that notion to others.
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| From creativecommons.org |
You bring up an interesting point about who gets credit when a student does well (or poorly). You said, "When a particular teacher's students gets high marks on a standardized test, it may be the teacher or the principal that gets the accolades, not the students nor the parents."
ReplyDeleteThe state of Florida is about to go to merit pay, which means a part of the teacher's salary is dependent on his/her students' standardized test scores. As if it weren't enough that we assess a student's learning based on a standardized test, now teachers will be judged by them as well. It seems we are not moving toward facilitation, doesn't it?
That is a great way to think about our roles as a teacher. We can easily get caught up in ourselves and our problems, and if we learn to put ourselves to the side and focus on who we will be effecting each day we might be able to do some good. I like the role of the facilitator because we can really make a difference and foster our students to become something great. When we let ourselves get in the way our students suffer. Thanks for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteThe phrase that comes to mind is servant-leadership where leadership is seen as a function not not a position, that leadership is about enabling coworkers to do their jobs. With the flattening of the knowledge structure, given how the Internet makes everything available to anyone willing to do the work to find it, it's becoming difficult for hierarchical structures to pretend exclusivity.
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