By Vicki Bechard, Secretary LFKS
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| Photo Credit: Vicki Bechard |
As the snow piles up in Kansas – which seems to be a real
trend this season – do you sometimes feel like things are piling up in your
school world too? With redesign and the
expectation to tailor our instruction to individual student needs that best
prepare them for post-secondary success, it can be overwhelming when you
consider how many ways we can accomplish those goals. We know learning is best if it’s engaging,
meaningful and relevant. Oh yes, and we
want it to be authentic so students can apply what they know. Just like the big snowfall, it all looks
pretty at first, but after a while, it might feel like more of the same or more
than you want to deal with. So how do we
decide what’s best? What do we keep;
what do we change? In other words, how do we dig out from that snow storm of
ideas and strategies so we can produce the desired result?
Efficacy is defined
as the ability to produce the desired result. Today’s research leads us to realize that we
want to empower teachers to develop
the belief that they can truly make a difference in preparing our students for
their future life. This is called self-efficacy or teacher efficacy. As learning leaders, growing teachers who
believe in their ability to produce the desired result becomes our WHY.
Our WHAT involves identifying
the results we want: Students that can
apply what they have learned, be adaptable, and lifelong learners so they can
grow in a rapidly changing world much of which is unknown to us now. But HOW
do we accomplish this? While
self-efficacy is good, in most things, we
are better together. When teams of
educators work together, believing and acting in ways to achieve these goals, they
create a culture in their school that focuses on learning and growth. Their
combined efforts become collective
efficacy.
If we fail to empower teachers, all the redesign initiatives
and school improvement plans in the world will be just like the changing Kansas
weather, blowing through one day, piling up, and then melting, just in time for the next system
to arrive. And we may not be better
prepared for future systems as they arrive. These initiatives and goals that we worked so
hard to create won’t mean a thing if those who are implementing them don’t have
the confidence, knowledge, skills, resources, and support to fulfill these
efforts. The question becomes how do
leaders change their culture and grow their staff to produce learning
experiences that uncover student strengths and passions, and shore up
weaknesses so that they can become successful high school graduates ready to
face the world? In the March 2018 ASCD
Educational Leadership article, the Power
of Collective Efficacy, Donohoo, Hattie, and Eells note:
When teams of educators believe they have
the ability to make a difference, exciting things can happen in a school.
How do we make that happen? Donohoo, Hattie and Eells remind us that “the greatest power that principals have in
schools is that they can control the narrative of the school.” What we think and talk about most typically becomes
the focus of our actions. Examine the
conversations (those things that create our personal snow piles) in your school
or team. Are they dominated by talk
around schedules, classroom management issues (i.e. student behaviors),
testing, absences and tardiness, or following the curriculum? Are we focused on compliance, or are we
focused on growth and learning? Some of
the behavior issues we deal with on a daily basis may just be rooted in the
kind and quality of the learning experiences we offer our students and
teachers! For so many, school is about
being in your seats when the bell rings, sitting quietly unless you’re called
on while the teacher does the work. So
how do we change the narrative to touch the hearts and minds of teachers so
they can touch the hearts and minds of students?
Professional
Learning will drive the bus on this journey to collective efficacy. Navigating
the snow piles we have created is part of this journey. Educators want and need to have knowledge and
skills to transform their instruction. We
recognize this type of systemic change takes time and deliberate practice. Keep
shoveling! As leaders we want to identify
necessary resources, and provide the kinds of support required by these new
ways of teaching so they can be effectively implemented. What “snow pile” if
you will, needs to be hauled away or melted before the real growth can be seen?
In other words, we want to develop teacher efficacy that can be combined
with others to create collective
efficacy so the culture of our school is one where everyone believes they
can make a difference for students in ways that will facilitate their success.
Donohoo, Hattie, and Eells drive home this point noting
that in schools, “If the narrative is
about high expectations, growth in relation to inputs, what it means to be a ‘good
learner’ in various subjects, and what impact means, then teachers and students
will think about learning in a different way.
They will believe that learning is about challenge, about understanding
and realizing high expectations, and that setbacks are an opportunity to
learn. Students will also believe that
coming to school means investing energy in deliberate practice.” The snow pile will no longer impede our
progress when we make this shift in our beliefs and actions.
Then and only then will we see the cycle of growth evolve
so that students are prepared for an unknown future because their teachers are
empowered and believe that they can continue to grow and make a difference in
how they teach today’s students for tomorrow’s world.
As the snow is swept away and new growth appears, nurture
it and watch it bloom into vivid color.
Jenni Donohoo, John Hattie, Rachel Eells, “The Power of Collective Efficacy,”
Educational Leadership, ASCD, March 2018, Volume 75
