Please read this great article and associated paper from The Quaglia Institute for School Voice and Aspirations (QISVA) that focuses on Voice and Aspirations for our students. It introduces the 8 Conditions that make a difference and help educators ensure that the work they are already doing fosters an environment characterized by positive relationships, engaged learning, and a sense of purpose. Those eight conditions are organized into 3 guiding principles, Self Worth, Engagement and Purpose that should be lived out in the classrooms and schools. It’s a very neat and effective way of ensuring that our focus is not only on academia and helps to nurture the whole student environment. In an era of educational policy that changes almost daily, schools must be grounded in a set of principles that are solidly based on research and that provide a practical, common sense approach to professional growth and learning. As they state: “When students and teachers have high aspirations, they have the ability to dream and set goals for the future while being inspired in the present to reach those dreams. Whether the goal is to learn trigonometry or a trade, get good grades or go to college, develop a new curriculum, expand one’s pedagogical repertoire, or achieve an outstanding evaluation, students and teachers want to be successful. Too often, however, students and teachers do not reach their goals and potential because the conditions that inspire and support them are not in place”.
“And then she went to the porridge of the Little Wee Bear, and tasted it, and that was neither too hot nor too cold, but just right, and she liked it so well that she ate it all up, every bit!” — Goldilocks and the Three Bears For many of us, the sun is shining and we are in the mad dash of wrapping things up before escaping for a well deserved summer. I suspect it would be an easy task if wrapping up was all we had to do, but of course it’s never that simple in a school. We don’t just pack up our class, we need to hand them over to next year’s division and teachers, and get ready to receive our next batch. The data handover is enormous, and figuring out the what and how requires a “Goldilocks” attitude - we’ve got to get it just right. Quantity: Sharing enough to inform, but not so much that it will overwhelm next year’s teachers. Ingredients: Not sharing just numbers, but also anecdotal records and holistic data that will help teachers know students better and so...
Comments
Post a Comment