EPISODE 9: DECODING EDUCATIONAL JARGON

EPISODE 9: DECODING EDUCATIONAL JARGON

 

As we start to ‘hit our stride’, we decided to dip our toe into the water of this controversial topic.  Whether it’s fear of the unknown, resistance to change, or just a lack of understanding, change can be uncomfortable.

However if you’re in the “kid” business, we have to be able to have mature conversations about new ideas and the motivation behind why we make changes.

Any “experienced” teacher or administrator will be familiar with this list and the enormous amount of effort and energy that was invested in these programs only for them to ultimately go away.  

 

Multiple intelligences

Whole Language

Revised Bloom's Taxonomy

Block Scheduling

Baldrige

Inquiry-based teaching

Race To The Top

Who moved my cheese?

RTI (response to intervention)

The Courage to Teach

Common Core

Social Emotional Learning

PBIS

Direct Instruction

No Child Left Behind

 

The truth is that ALL of these concepts have incredible value and were rooted in trying to help students reach their full and well-rounded potential.  What is also true is that some of these initiatives failed in schools all across the country (and world) because administrators failed to understand that the implementation process must be driven by the teaching staff.  If you want buy-in, spend time at the beginning to frontload (sorry, I couldn’t resist) how and why you feel these “new” strategies need to be implemented based on a solid strategic plan. It is likely that there will already be a few teachers in your building who have read the books, already piloted certain strategies, and most-importantly, have identified how to use them with their students. They will be the ones who assist the launch as they advocate with concrete examples to their colleagues who trust them. That's how momentum and buy-in is built. 

And if along the way you hear “It’s about the kids” or “This is how we always done it”...tread lightly.