Posts from — May 2010

Greater achievement comes when we focus on students, not on the curricula itself.

Stephen Covey, the internationally respected leadership authority, is best known for his phenomenal book, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.” But the co-founder and vice-chairman of the FranklinCovey Co. has also been recognized as one of Time magazine’s twenty-five most influential Americans based on his impact in a variety of fields including education.

Covey’s seven principles are universal, with the first two leading the way for any walk of life: a) take personal responsibility and initiative and b) be clear about what’s important to you and setting goals. In this writer’s eyes, these two elements represent the foundation for being successful, whether it is training for the world of pro sports or inspiring a classroom full of students.

Some educators may be surprised to learn that these seven habits once served to revitalize A.B. Combs Elementary School in Raleigh, North Carolina. Principal Muriel Summers transformed the poor performing school with low teacher morale into a model program by applying Covey’s seven principles to the school setting.

Implementing an inside-out approach, i.e. having the teachers and administrators learning, living and modeling the principles themselves first, Summers led a process that resulted in the principles of effectiveness being woven into every subject — math, science, social studies, art, etc.

Encouraged to Be Leaders

Dubbed The Leader in Me process, the seven habits educational approach has now been adopted in over 200 schools around the world. While every school is unique in its own way, these 200 all share a common mission statement: “Developing Leaders, One Child at a Time.”

Covey notes that many folks question the fundamental notion that every child can be a leader. But in the ‘Knowledge Worker Age,’ he insists that leadership is a life choice as opposed to a position that is assigned to people.

The Leader in Me process is not about the small number of people who will end up in significant leadership positions. Instead, it is about leading one’s life and being a leader among one’s friends and one’s family.

Covey considers this emphasis on leadership as the ‘highest of all the arts,’ and that by communicating to people their worth and potential they ultimately come to see it in themselves.

A Program Worth Considering

Perhaps it is Covey’s humility that makes his work so enticing. The man behind the seven principles does not take credit for what he calls the ‘set of universal, timeless, self-evident principles common to every enduring, prospering society, organization, or family.’ Instead, according to his own assessment, he ‘simply organized, sequenced and articulated them.’

But for this educator, it is the fact that Covey reverts to the very fundamentals of education in the Leader in Me program that is significant. The focus on students and not curricula, on character and not subjects, and most importantly, ‘doing the right thing even when no one is looking’ is one every school should take notice of.

Indeed, education has been and will always be about relationships. Covey’s focus on developing leadership features this fundamental prominently.

Educators interested in greater student achievement would do well to review the principles featured in The Leader in Me. Though a complete school approach would no doubt produce greater impact, teacher’s who implement these principles into their classroom will find students taking greater ownership in their learning.

And such ownership is at the heart of greater levels of student achievement.

Maine GOP sets an example, albeit a poor one, for middle school students.

In the realm of you can’t make this stuff up, students in the King Middle School “Four Freedoms” learning expedition recently received a concrete lesson in free speech courtesy of the GOP. The school served as a private meeting space for members of the Republican Party while the large-scale convention was held May 7th at the Portland Expo.

It seems when Paul Clifford, an eighth-grade social studies teacher, returned to his classroom the Monday after the convention he found that a poster celebrating the labor movement had been removed from his wall and replaced with a Republican sticker. According to news sources, the poster offered this quote from union leader Eugine Debs: “Intelligent discontent is the mainspring of civilization born of agitation. It is agitation or stagnation.”

Upon returning to school that morning, Clifford found his labor movement poster had disappeared, replaced by a large sticker with the following inscription: ‘Workers Vote Republican.’ In addition, the teacher found a note on his desk that offered these words: ‘A Republican was here. What gives you the right to propagandize impressionable kids?’

Response to Student Collages?

Clifford told reporters that the note appeared to be a reaction to several student-made collages that were displayed in the classroom. However, it seems that the group had not only left their mark on his classroom, they also had called school officials to complain about student collages posted about the room as well as copies of the U.S. Constitution they found in his classroom.

Since our constitution theoretically represents the fundamental guiding document for all government operations, one has to wonder how convention goers could find fault with such documents being present in an eighth grade social studies classroom. But then, the documents had been donated by the American Civil Liberties Union, and apparently to make matters worse in the eyes of the Republicans using the classroom, they also featured a “know your rights” section.

But while the poster and collages were in plain site, the copies of the constitution were actually stored in a closed box on the floor. When discussing the behavior of the Republicans, Clifford pulled no punches with Randy Billings at The Forecaster.

“We allowed someone to use our building,” Clifford offered noting that other teachers also reported problems with litter and stray fliers. “They came in and searched our stuff. Stole a poster. Left our building trashed. And then called us to complain about what they found when they searched our house.”

Punishments Forthcoming?

The Portland School Department has indicated that it would not seek criminal charges against the group of Republicans though going through and removing school materials clearly crosses a behavioral line that educators would not tolerate. And though Superintendent James Morse indicated the actions of the delegates set a bad example for students, he was not interested in pursuing the issue further.

“For me to file a criminal complaint against them to me seems like I would be sucked into the political game and it’s not a game I want to play,” Morse told Billings. “I think it (would be) a waste of precious taxpayer’s money to push an issue because a group of grown-ups behaved badly.”

School Committee member Sarah Thompson was a little stronger in her outrage, indicating any damage done to facilities (we would assume that would include clean up costs) should be the responsibility of those who used the school.

“I think there should be repercussions,” she said. She further noted that if the weekend incident involved students, they would likely have been punished.

Giving some hope, Christie-Lee McNally, the executive director of the Maine Republican Party, issued an apology on the party website. “The Maine Republican Party does not condone the destruction of property,” she stated nor does it encourage the lack of tolerance that these people demonstrated.”

But while the head of the party seemed chagrined, it seems some Republicans did not agree that an apology was necessary. Aroostook County Republican Jim Cyr noted that his group met in a different classroom in the school. There they found disturbing material including a bumper sticker on a classroom wall that said: “Do something nice for the environment. Uproot a Bush in 2004.”

Cyr went on to blame the media coverage for failing to provide a balanced assessment of the issues. Instead of concentrating on the removal of the poster, Cyr thought the media should focus on the larger story that children are “being used as pawns in an indoctrination war.”

A Teachable Moment

In response, Portland High School senior Simon Thompson, a student representative on the School Committee a year ago, penned a letter to the Maine GOP.

“I am not brainwashed, I am not a puppet, I am not anti-American or anti-religious,” notes the King graduate. “Paul Clifford’s class taught me to think critically, to deductively reason and, if anything, to appreciate America for all the freedoms with which I am ensured on a daily basis.”

Meanwhile, as all good teachers would, Clifford’s ultimate response was to use the incident as a teachable moment for students. He informed students that when some people believe in their own ideas so strongly they sometimes forget others have a right to their own point of view.

“This is not an opportunity to trash somebody,” he summarized. “We know this is not something that would be condoned by the Republican Party. This type of stuff happens on both sides of the party line.”

Amidst the political rancor engulfing our country, Clifford’s balance is most welcome. He even publicly noted his initial bemusement with the ‘Workers Vote Republican’ bumper sticker.

As one looks at the incident independently, it seems that the teacher asked to educate the next generation of voters is doing just what is expected of him: teaching students the importance of intelligent discontent. Too bad convention attendees have not had access to such lessons.

As a former administrator, I have had the good fortune to visit a significant number of classrooms over the years. Because I have been witness to bad or indifferent teaching, there has always been a special feeling of excitement during those times I was able to witness the talents of a true professional at work in the classroom. It also has encouraged me to be reflective on my years in the classroom.

Having begun teaching in the 1970’s at the high school level, my approach in the early years was very traditional. My classroom would have been best described as teacher-centered and my organizational skills combined with my ability to relate to students created a room that earned me high marks from my administrators.

In the early nineties though, it became increasingly clear that my methods were growing less popular with students. In addition, I found myself less and less successful on the most important element, student achievement. My classroom was well-managed and discipline issues seldom arose, but my students seemed to be losing interest in the subjects that I taught.

As I slowly tried to adjust, most of my colleagues initially insisted that I was wrong to make changes. Instead, they were firm in their resolve that the students needed to be held accountable. Most importantly, they insisted that if these students were one day to move on to post-secondary levels of education, they would find that college professors seldom featured anything but the teacher-centered model.

It was in the September 1996 issue of Educational Leadership that Alfie Kohn turned my thoughts full circle. It was at that time he released his version of “What to Look for in a Classroom.”

His summary was truly transformational for me and it has stood the test of time as the definitive model for those classrooms where teachers excel. Frequently appearing in a simple chart format, “What to Look for in a Classroom” features two contrasting columns: the ‘Good Signs’ versus ‘Possible Reasons to Worry.’

Parents and traditional educators will find a disturbing trend – to this day, most of the practices employed at the high school level fall into Kohn’s reasons to worry category.

The Traditional/Negative Approach

Under the possible reasons to worry, Kohn took exception to longstanding educational traditions. In simplest terms, Kohn insisted it was time to destroy the teacher-centered, control model that focused on classroom management and replace it with a version that is often equated with what one sees in elementary school, particularly at the youngest levels.

For example, under his possible reasons to worry, he offered the following:

• Chairs all facing forward and worse yet, desks in rows.
• Packaged instructional materials orderly and prominently displayed.
• Classroom visuals featuring commercial posters, lists of rules, sticker and star charts or samples of flawless student work posted only from the best youngsters.
• Periods of silence interrupted by only the voice of the teacher.
• An in-control, authoritative and highly visible teacher typically front and center.
• Students waiting quietly for the next set of teacher-initiated activities, responding to teacher-directed questioning.
• All students focused on the same activity working on their individual skills.

The Modern/Positive Approach

In the Kohn classroom, the teacher is no longer the focus – instead everything centers upon the students and what it is they need to learn:

• Multiple activity centers featuring various classroom structures including open spaces and large tables for group work.
• Room overflowing with a variety of materials, apparatus and supplies.
• Displays of student projects demonstrating student collaboration or personal memos initiated by the students.
• A buzz or low-level hum of activity featuring students exchanging ideas.
• A warm, respectful teacher mingling with students.
• Students eager and excited about learning as they actively question one another.
• Multiple activities taking place simultaneously with students working in pairs or groups.

Elementary vs. Secondary

As noted earlier, Kohn’s approach was far more consistent with that employed by elementary school teachers. It also features a significant change in focus for those administrators observing a classroom – instead of an emphasis on what it is that the teacher is doing, the shift is to assessing what it is that the students are doing. Most importantly, it is a shift from a quiet, well-managed classroom to one that is lively and features an emphasis on student learning.

It is interesting to note that for many children, middle school and high school becomes the place where school is no longer enjoyable. It is, of course, at that time that students traditionally have been subject to a shift from student-centered classroom to a teacher-centered, content-driven academic approach.

The result is that school, instead of being a place where students look forward to going each day because it features an exciting atmosphere where learning new things is enjoyable, becomes a chore at best, a problem at worst. At the very age when students most resist compliance and teacher-centered approaches, too many teachers, and, by default, too many schools insist on employing such a format.

Because of the sophistication needed educationally, there is no doubt that 21st century classrooms demand a shift from the ‘sage on the stage’ to the ‘guide on the side’ approach. That move is a requirement to produce the type of student that will excel in the creative, technologically-rich world we face.

But while technology demands such a shift and the student of the 21st century needs such a classroom to learn the skills needed for future employment, it is now clear that the Kohn approach is one that should have been employed long ago for a different reason.

It is, and in fact has always been, a better way for teachers to do business. And it has always been the model I associate with the true professionals I have had the good fortune to observe.