Transforming the Pedagogical Dreamfield
Laura Rendon’s essay, “Realizing a Transformed Pedagogical Dreamfield: Recasting Agreements for Teaching and Learning,” opened some avenues of thoughts for me. The six agreements to which Ms. Rendon refers do come into play in the American education to one degree or another. I have even tried assisting teachers and school systems in making some of the transformations suggested by Ms. Rendon. The question then becomes whether these six almost unspoken agreements come into play in the school in which I currently work. If they do, to what extent, and do they need to be transformed before the school can reach its vision for student achievement?
The first agreement to Privilege Mental Knowing is definitely alive and well in the school in which I work. The SSO team works daily to move teachers away from teaching to only two of the identified intelligences. It is time that we also teach to the emotional intelligence. The expansion of teaching strategies needs to address assessments, and how teachers integrate all forms of intelligence for problems solving and/or application to real world situations.
The second agreement of Separation is also alive and well even though we promote learning environments which are student-centered. That is, we encourage the students to take some ownership of their learning as the teachers examine the teaching strategies and activities which involve students through a variety of intelligences and emotions. This would be a second area to examine in light of the culture of the community.
The third agreement is that of Competition. We truly want to move the school closer to the techniques of developing teaming and relationship building which promote productive teams. This would not remove completely competition, but would put the focus on friendly competition which keeps students excited about finding unique ways of applying skills and understanding. Competition seems to be an innate human characteristic which keeps people striving. The type of competition and the reasons for promoting competition need to be examined in our school.
The fourth agreement is that of Perfection which is also alive and well in the minds of the teachers. This unwritten expectation seems to be in how teachers view students, how supervisors view teachers, how administration views all others, and even in how administrators view administrators. This one worries me because it impacts the total school environment. I have been told that our school environment is better than at other schools, but we must address it in terms of what we are trying to promote in our school, and not whether or not we are better or worse than other schools. This is an area upon which the administrations and teacher need to reflect to see how perfection can enhance or deter the total learning environment.
The fifth agreement is Monoculturalism looks at culture through the eyes of the American Dream. Truly, monoculturalism is alive in many parts of our school. It is the Qatari dream to raise educational levels which promote academic standards and in turn will prepare students to become the future leaders of Qatar and the Arab world. There needs to be a balance here which will achieve the goal and promote an understanding of how all cultures found in this area have in the past and can in the future assist Qatar in achieving its vision.
The final agreement is Workaholism. I do not find workaholism to be an agreement in our school or in the basic Qatar culture. It does seem to be an expectation of those who come to the school/country to work, but not viewed in the same degree of those who are citizens. It seems that there needs to be some discussion on the elements of workaholism which can be utilized to reach the school’s vision. In addition, I feel that there needs to be more time spent on the development of Mark Nepo’s elements of love, truth and compassion. Again, the key here is balance which will promote the educational vision and embrace the elements of the culture.
I do not know that I will address each of these agreements in the exact way the author suggests, but they will be addressed in a number of ways as we continue delivering professional development to administrators, coordinators and teachers. Several of the agreements will be addressed during the school self-review and when examining data for determining strategic planning goals.
The first agreement to Privilege Mental Knowing is definitely alive and well in the school in which I work. The SSO team works daily to move teachers away from teaching to only two of the identified intelligences. It is time that we also teach to the emotional intelligence. The expansion of teaching strategies needs to address assessments, and how teachers integrate all forms of intelligence for problems solving and/or application to real world situations.
The second agreement of Separation is also alive and well even though we promote learning environments which are student-centered. That is, we encourage the students to take some ownership of their learning as the teachers examine the teaching strategies and activities which involve students through a variety of intelligences and emotions. This would be a second area to examine in light of the culture of the community.
The third agreement is that of Competition. We truly want to move the school closer to the techniques of developing teaming and relationship building which promote productive teams. This would not remove completely competition, but would put the focus on friendly competition which keeps students excited about finding unique ways of applying skills and understanding. Competition seems to be an innate human characteristic which keeps people striving. The type of competition and the reasons for promoting competition need to be examined in our school.
The fourth agreement is that of Perfection which is also alive and well in the minds of the teachers. This unwritten expectation seems to be in how teachers view students, how supervisors view teachers, how administration views all others, and even in how administrators view administrators. This one worries me because it impacts the total school environment. I have been told that our school environment is better than at other schools, but we must address it in terms of what we are trying to promote in our school, and not whether or not we are better or worse than other schools. This is an area upon which the administrations and teacher need to reflect to see how perfection can enhance or deter the total learning environment.
The fifth agreement is Monoculturalism looks at culture through the eyes of the American Dream. Truly, monoculturalism is alive in many parts of our school. It is the Qatari dream to raise educational levels which promote academic standards and in turn will prepare students to become the future leaders of Qatar and the Arab world. There needs to be a balance here which will achieve the goal and promote an understanding of how all cultures found in this area have in the past and can in the future assist Qatar in achieving its vision.
The final agreement is Workaholism. I do not find workaholism to be an agreement in our school or in the basic Qatar culture. It does seem to be an expectation of those who come to the school/country to work, but not viewed in the same degree of those who are citizens. It seems that there needs to be some discussion on the elements of workaholism which can be utilized to reach the school’s vision. In addition, I feel that there needs to be more time spent on the development of Mark Nepo’s elements of love, truth and compassion. Again, the key here is balance which will promote the educational vision and embrace the elements of the culture.
I do not know that I will address each of these agreements in the exact way the author suggests, but they will be addressed in a number of ways as we continue delivering professional development to administrators, coordinators and teachers. Several of the agreements will be addressed during the school self-review and when examining data for determining strategic planning goals.
posted by Gari at
11:59 AM
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