Curriculum 21 - Chapter 4: New School Versions

Curriculum 21: Essential Education for a Changing World   by Heidi Hayes Jacobs

Chapter 4 New School Versions: Reinventing and Reuniting School Program Structure

We shape our buildings: thereafter, they shape us. -Sir Winston Churchill

·         Imagine a 100 years from now, thinking back on your time in school.

·         Possibility of new kinds of form

·         New versions of software=platforms

·         New versions of schools = versioning

1.  Form should always follow function

2.  The whole is the sum of the parts

Curricular Destiny:  Schedules, Grouping Patterns, and the Use of Space

·         Schedule (long term and short term)

·         Grouping Patterns of Learners (institutional and instructional)

·         Grouping Patterns of professionals (multiple affiliations)

·         Space (both physical and virtual)

To move our school structures into more open, fluid, and correspondingly inventive forms, we need new form, not reform.

Essential Questions

·         What type of both long-term and short-term schedules will best support our specific learners?

·         What various ways of grouping our learners will assist them in their learning experiences?

·         How should faculty be configured to best serve students and to assist one another?

·         In what ways can both physical and virtual space be created and used to support our work?

Schedules

·         Graduation

·         Time:  Let function lead form

·         Heroic Schools

http://metcenter.org/

Rhode Island Met Center 

Thinking and Planning Outside the Scheduling Box: Virtual Space

American students videoconferencing in their tech center  -Advanced French class in

Paris Advanced English language class in their tech center

VLM – Virtual Learning Magnet- connects cyber space with physical space

·         Link our finest cultural and scientific institutions directly to the student in a focused experience using internet-based tools.

CCSSO Council of Chief State School Officers 

http://vimeo.com/47025452

Grouping of Students

·         Institutional - gender, age, developmental spans, function, proficiency based

·         Instructional – skill grouping (constant), skill grouping (immediate needs), cooperative, competitive, individualized

·         Independent – clubs, online courses, internships, work experiences, travel abroad, community service and projects

Grouping of Professionals – The need for multiple affiliation

Consider:

·         Vertical teams

·         Vertical strategic teams

·         Cross disciplinary teams

·         Internship supervisors

·         Task force study groups

·         Data analysis teams

·         State education network teams

·         National network team

·         Global peer coaching team

·         Global network team

Social Learning Frameworks

Leveraging social production, social networks, new modalities for discovery, media grids, and an organic learning process

New Versions of Physical and Physical Space

DesignShare

www.designshare.com

1.        Whom the building is to serve

2.       What the building’s function will be

Form should follow function.  The whole is the sum of the parts.

Could your Curriculum 21 review team generate a version of school that had both flexibility and regulation in long-term and daily schedules, supported multiple professional affiliations, offered a wide range of student groupings, and used physical and virtual space in direct response to the actual students you have been charged to educate?

Parallel Curriculum - by Dr. Altrogge

Carol Tomlinson and colleagues note that the supportive curriculum involves resources other than textbooks. It can involve flexible options and a Parallel curriculum model. The Parallel Curriculum can be used to develop or support Curriculum for individuals, small groups and even entire classes. It parallels other forms of curriculum.

Tomlinson also notes the four parallels as the Core Curriculum, Curriculum and Connections, Curriculum of Practice, and Curriculum of Identity.  The parallel processes can be used to identify abilities and interests of students. Parallels act as supports for thematic study and help connect content. A parallel curriculum is sometimes used for gifted students as they are strong in some areas and weak in others.

Terms associated with Parallel curriculum:

Core curriculum parallels a discipline.

Connective curriculum makes connections within and across times, cultures, places, and disciplines. 

Curriculum of practice guides gifted learners in understanding and applying the facts, concepts, principles, and methodologies of the discipline. 

Curriculum of identity guides gifted students (and other students?) to understand their strengths, preferences, values, and commitment.

Glatthorn, A.; Boschee, F.; Whitehead, B; Boschee, B. Curriculum leadership, 3rd edition, Thousand Oaks, Sage, 2012.  

Ginny's note: Tomlinson makes a specific reference to the parallel curriculum being used with gifted students. I believe good teachers do this with allstudents.

Simon Sinek - How Great Leaders Inspire Action

Marshall Memo

link to the website http://www.marshallmemo.com/

Curriculum 21 Blog

Here's Curriculum 21's blog

Climate / Culture in Schools

The book on school culture that I mentioned this evening is: Schools as Communities (Drexler, 2007) is geared toward Christian schools, but I think could be useful for any school leader looking to impact change in school culture and climate. http://www.amazon.com/Schools-Communities-Educational-Leadership-Relationships/dp/1583310835/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378949294&sr=8-1&keywords=schools+as+communities - Valerie

Curriculum Leadership Powerpoint from Class:
Power point

Importance of the Principal: Chapter 3 in The Principal

Definition of highly effective principals:
-someone who can drive change, accelerate and sustain high student achievement and can turn around low performing schools (p33, The Principal)

NCLB----Redirection of leaders from management to leadership

Curriculum leadership
--we are aligning curriculum to state standards and we see more sped teachers collaborating with gen ed teachers

Definition of curriculum leadership:
-school systems and schools working together; everyone is from superintendent up to department chairs and classroom leaders.

Problems

1.  What does it mean to be a curriculum leader?
2.  Lack of time
3.  Lack of help

Why should the principal serve as curriculum leader?

quality curriculum, meaningful change and strong leadership

There should be a balance between principal and teacher leadership.
See table 3.1 on page 41 (can help establish who has what leadership roles)

Curriculum 21: Chapter 2

Curriculum 21: Chapter 2

Please see the linked Presentation for complete notes and activities.
Presentation

Replace Existing Practices:

• How Tech Savvy Are You?
• Do not simply "integrate technology into curriculum"
• Shift the focus: Technology to Curriculum

Curriculum Mapping Software:

• The vehicle to integrating curriculum
• Start by attending department meetings with the IT department
• Begin with assessments

Steps to Modernizing Assessments:

Step 1: Develop a pool of assessment replacements

Step 2: Identify existing types of software, hardware, etc. that your school uses or has access to

Step 3: Replace a dated assessment with a modern one

Step 4: Share the assessment upgrades formally with colleagues and students

Step 5: Insert ongoing sessions for skills assessment upgrades into the school calendar

Intro; Chapter 1 & 2 Start with the Why

Introduction: Why Start With Why?

I. Naturally occurring pattern of thinking

            A. Some leaders posses a natural ability to inspire those around them

            B. Everyone can learn to inspire

            C. Need to start with the right question to get the right answer

II. Natural born leaders/who inspire

            A. Wright brothers

            B. Jobs and Wozniak

            C. War protesters

            D. Martin Luther King

III. Great leaders vs. leaders of industry  

            A. Industrial leaders:

1. coercion

                        2. incentives

            B. Great leaders:

1. inspire people to act

2. think, communicate, and act alike

IV. Workforce of today

            A. 80% of people today are unhappy with current job

            B. How can we change that?

START WITH THE WHY

Chapter 1: Assume You Know

I. Nation Leaders

            A. Sound alike

            B. Different outcomes

            C. Assumptions

II. Success

            A. Decisions

            B. False assumptions prompt poor decisions

II. Foresight for making decisions

            A. American car executives

            B. Japanese car makers

Chapter 2: Carrots and Sticks

I. Manipulation vs. Inspiration

            A. Two ways to influence human behavior

            B. Effectiveness of manipulation

II. Price

            A. Effective way to sell more products

            B. Difficult to change

III. Promotions

            A. Effective

            B. Difficult to maintain end up losing in the end

            C. Success based on consumer response

IV. Fear

            A. Most powerful manipulation tool

            B. Biological drive to survive

            C. Used as public service announcements to get people to follow a code of ethics and laws

            D. Fear and consequences used to manipulate consumers

            E. Move consumers away from something horrible

V. Aspirations

            A. Attempt to have people move toward something desirable

            B. Prey on the weak: people who have poor self image/insecurity

C. Gym membership: people will buy through an aspiration but need inspiration to use 3 times a week

VI. Peer pressure

A. Useful due to individually we do not want to be the idiot who is not using what everyone else is using and supposedly having success

            B. Celebrities play a large role in peer pressure through endorsements

VII. Novelty

            A. Can attract attention and increase sales

            B. Impact only lasts until the next novel item comes out

C. Apple/ATT initial plan: changed the way cell phones and providers delivered service

VIII. The price you pay for the money you make

            A. Manipulations work but do not build loyalty

            B. Manipulations increase cost exponentially

            C. The gains are short term

D. Manipulations are regularly used in politics however, they do not create a foundation of leadership

E. Leadership is the ability to rally people for a for years not a single movement.

IX. Manipulations lead to transactions, not loyalty

A. Manipulations are effective for changing behavior that is required one time but not for returning costumers

            B. Manipulations are making Americans sick due to the stress levels

X. Just because it works does not make it right

            A. They have become the norm because they work in the short term

B. Manipulations, aspirations and fears are making systems weaker and weaker…they are not sustainable

Curriculum 21 - Chapter 1

Curriculum 21 - Chapter 1

A New Essential Curriculum

Welcome to the Future

The opening paragraph poses the question about how our students feel when entering our classrooms and buildings.  Do they feel like they have stepped back in time?  The above video was shown by a superintendent at a leadership breakfast I attended two years ago.  He asked us just to sit back and take in the powerful message the video presents.  Think about your own educational experiences and compare that to the children in this video.  

Are we restricted by what we know and what are are able to do?  Are we trapped by our own experiences of school and curriculum which restrict growth?

How did we end up with all these standards?

The Committee of Ten shared these findings in 1892 in an attempt to move away from an agriculture into one that fit the current needs of an industrial society.  These standards are still shaping our classrooms today.  The question the book presents is are these standards serving the students are attempting to create kids who are best suited for living in a world that no longer exists?

The author talks of creating a set of standards that all 50 states would follow in an attempt to have a clear and uniform system for educating our students.  Only three years after the book was published we are still having the same types of conversations on the eve of implementing a set of national standards, are these really what is best for our students?

The author suggests that we have plenty of change that stretches back to 1835 but not enough true growth.  The way we use our physical and virtual space needs to be examined as we look towards building a modern curriculum.  To do this we need to dispel the myths that shape how our own teachers and parents see school.

Myth 1 - The good old days are still good enough.
There is some level of truth to that, good old fashioned values are precisely what we we want for our children.  The feeling of acceptance and happiness we felt while attending school is what we hope still continues today.  Can we build a school that hold true to those values while recreating a curriculum that will fit their future needs?

Myth 2 - We're better off if we all think alike - and not too much.
This appears to be based out of fear.  Fear of not knowing where to begin and not knowing where to go to get some answers.  It can be difficult to ask our peers the burning questions we may have about the curriculum in fear of looking silly.  There is an easy solution that may not be fully utilized.  Creating a Digital Personal Learning Network any teacher can learn and ask questions without fear.  (See below for more DPLN resources.)

Myth 3 - Too much creativity is dangerous - and the arts are frills.
I do not believe this myth is one that is widespread as the others.  I see classes we offer that honor the arts and are steeped in creativity but these seem to be only offered to middle and high school students.

DPLN - part of the solution
The creation of a Digital Personal Learning Network seems to be one way to help the teaching and administrative staff overcome some of the issues facing education today.  How do you reach out and solve the issues you are currently facing inside your building?  Where do good ideas come from and how to help them take root?

presentation
(Colin's notes)

Heidi Hayes Jacobs - TEDx Talk

Between and rock and a...

The Principal as Curriculum Leader

Shaping What is Taught and Tested (Chapters 1&2)

1. What it means to be a curriculum leader: NCLB and Beyond

Current Trends 

• More rigorous reading levels (artificial lexile increases)
• non-fiction text taking a priority over literature in Communication Arts
• college and career readiness (data management systems tied to stimulus and federal grant money)
• literacy in the content areas (non-fiction texts)

Beyond NCLB to Voluntary National Standards for States

• curriculum narrowing (teaching to the test)
• school accreditation issues limits the resources flowing to schools who have the greatest need
• anemic curriculum as the core areas take precedent

Fantastic thoughtful take on the Common Core by Diane Ravitch 

My take away: "It's often not working through the initiate, but around it."

The Hallmarks of Curriculum Quality

• Structure and deliver the curriculum so that it facilitates the mastery of essential skills and knowledge of the subjects.
• Structure the curriculum so that it is closely coordinated.
• Develop an effective integrated curriculum.
• Structure the curriculum so that it results in deeper, less superficial coverage.
• Focus on the mastery of a limited number of essential curriculum objectives rather that trying to cover too many.
• Organize the curriculum so that it provides for multiyear sequential study, not stand-alone courses.
• Emphasize both the academic and the practical.
• Structure the curriculum so that it focuses on problem solving.

Principal as instructional leader in an high-accountability, public-accountability, and the ongoing debate of the viability of state and national standards for curriculum.

This is often not about the individual student, the question is then how does the principal take on the responsibility of the state and district mandates, while doing what is best for children? I believe we are in the age of privatization and capitalization of public education in America.

2. The Four Curriculum Levels: State, District, School and Classroom

The more principals understand this curricular  process in their local context the more they can be effective instructional leaders as they are not passive receivers of all the initiatives coming down the pipeline above them, but instead are creative problem solvers and innovators.  In my opinion innovation comes out of necessity not "ex nihilo" creativity and the current climate in American public education requires creative problem solving.