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Transcription
A focus group discussed evidence-based instructional strategies in private schools in Central Pennsylvania. Lack of formal policies and curriculum guides make it difficult to hold teachers accountable. There is a disconnect between instructional strategies and organizational goals, and teachers lack training and understanding. The school calendar does not allow for professional development. Principals struggle to supervise teachers and implement new strategies. The focus group concluded that changes are needed to align teaching practices with the latest trends and research. Teachers should be empowered to implement evidence-based strategies and promote critical thinking. The goal is to challenge students academically, socially, emotionally, and spiritually. Implementing evidence-based teaching strategies will align the school's mission and vision. The podcast encourages listeners to consider their own organization's practices and share thoughts and comments on evidence-based teaching s Good morning. My name is Christine, and I am your host for the Learning and Teaching Podcast. Today, we are going to be discussing the topic of evidence-based instructional strategies in educational entities. I recently engaged with a focus group comprised of a school administrator, principal, teacher, and coordinator to talk about the various aspects of instructional practices at their private schools in Central Pennsylvania. Prior to starting our meeting, we determined meeting norms to ensure we were all on the same page. We agreed to be tough on the content, but not on each other. Everyone should participate, and there should be no silent agreement or disagreement throughout the conversation. During our conversation, it was evident that everyone in the focus group was passionate about education. We focused heavily on observations of teachers at various age levels and how there are pockets of teachers throughout the school that utilize current evidence-based practices, while others are insistent on traditional teaching methods with lectures at the front of the classroom. Without having any documents in the building stating policies surrounding expectations of instructional practices, it is challenging to hold teachers accountable. I was surprised to learn that there were no formally written policies or curriculum instruction guides in the building. The administration members of the focus group stated that it would be helpful if we were to write these policies out so that they were no longer assumed by everyone. Disconnection between instructional strategies and organizational goals were made clear the more we shared experiences and observations about evidence-based teaching strategies in the classroom. Everyone agreed that there is a lack of training and understanding among teachers. They are not aware of these practices, so we are not able to fault them for something they do not know. On top of that, the school calendar does not lend itself to incorporating professional development with follow-up to ensure teachers are held accountable to what they are learning. The principles are spread very thin within their roles, and they struggle to maintain their responsibilities while also supervising teachers to help hold them accountable. There are also barriers associated with inexperience, lack of confidence to implement new strategies, lack of training to learn new strategies, and potentially even a lack of initiative on teachers to attempt something new. At the focus group's end, I reflected on what I learned and how I wanted to incorporate the feedback into my position at the school. I learned that what we are currently doing needs to change to keep up with the latest trends and research related to evidence-based teaching strategies. It is not enough to have pockets of teachers utilizing these strategies. As we continue working through the alignment process, I plan to work with teachers to help them learn about new evidence-based strategies, such as transformational learning, so that they can implement constructivist principles in their own classrooms. We want our students to be tired at the end of the class period, not the teachers. If the teachers are tired, they are doing too much of the work for the students. The students must be doing the thinking and the creating. We want to create habits in the mind and develop critical thinking so students are prepared for life after graduation. We want our students to be challenged so that they grow not only academically, but also socially, emotionally, and spiritually. Implementing current evidence-based teaching strategies will help us align our mission and our vision with the education occurring in each classroom. As we wrap up this podcast today, I want to challenge you to think about what current practices are being implemented in your own organization. Are they research-based? Do all teachers keep up with the latest data surrounding these practices? Do they understand how to incorporate them in their own classrooms? Please post your thoughts, responses, and comments related to evidence-based teaching strategies. We want to hear from you. Keep the conversation going. Next week, we will focus on professional development practices that support meaningful learning for teachers. Until next time, keep teaching, keep leading, keep growing.
