Holding Up a Mirror

As the school year winds down, it gives each of us time to pause, and to reflect on what we've accomplished. It's through such critical consideration of our work, that we grow as teachers and as learners, so let's be sure to get beyond ourselves to consider how our actions have led others to grow.

What Students Accomplish
If you attend school at the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, the reflection by your principal, Chris Lehmann, might lead everyone to reflect on what the graduating class has accomplished; not just in one defining year, but in an entire high school career.

If you're Megan Palevich, you lead your students to reflect on what they've accomplished, and you discover, that they've learned much more than the curriculum dictates.



Learning With Colleagues
Do you work within a community of teacher-learners?
How have you acted as a mentor to fellow teachers?
Which discoveries have you shared with your colleagues?
Is the sharing of your personal/professional learning a common practice at your school?

Learning in Community
How have you highlighted student achievement for your community?
Have your parents discovered what learning looks like?
Do folks know why you structure learning the way you do?
Have the doors of your classroom been open to visitors?
How have real people augmented your lessons?
Which learning stories are worth sharing with an even wider audience?
How have you publicly celebrated the greatest achievements and minor miracles from this school year?

What about You?
Sure, you've grown too. You've used proven methods and mixed in the use of some new lessons and tools. But it's in the work of our students and colleagues in the context of a learning community that we can best measure the effectiveness of our work. So before you hold up the mirror to yourself at year's end, hold it up to your fellow learners, including teachers, students and community members, and consider the ripples that have been triggered by your work.


Photo Credit: A6U571N

Welcome to the Profession

You are likely familiar with the Hippocratic Oath through which graduates from medical school promise to practice with the best of their abilities.

Many Canadians are at least passingly familiar with the Iron Ring Ceremony where unique pinky rings are granted to engineers upon completion of their formal education. As part of the Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer the ring is a symbol that the graduate is obliged to act with the upmost professionalism.

If teaching is such an important vocation, why does no such rite of passage accompany graduation from a faculty of education?



What if instead of taking an oath, or participating in a ceremony, educators upon graduation had the opportunity to participate in a national symposium created just for them? Such an event would allow teachers to demonstrate their commitment to lifelong learning, and would model the reality that one's education should continue beyond the classroom.

Recognizing the need for the teaching profession to to adapt to the realities of the 21st century, imagine an event where new teachers could be taught simultaneously by the brightest minds from across a nation or around the world. Current technology would allow such an event to be carried out at relatively low cost, provided schools were interested in participating.

In order to demonstrate the potential for such rite of passage, I'd like to invite my Canadian colleagues to consider hosting such an event in the 2009-2010 school year. By teaming with other pan-Canadian groups like The Learning Partnership, a group of K-12 and university educators might motivate agents-of-change to share their messages with graduates.

At faculties of education, auditoriums could provide the venue for both 'in-person' presentations and live webcasts where passionate educators from elementary, secondary, and post-secondary institutions would share their stories of personal/professional growth.

Geared towards new teachers, a simul-conference could easily be scaled to provide open access beyond faculties of education. Guest speakers could be recorded to accommodate asynchronous participation by current classroom teachers while back-channel discussions could forge connections between venues.

Such an event might instill in new and experienced teachers an understanding of a number of key messages about the profession:

1] Learning is a lifelong endeavor;
2] Embrace change;
3] Reach through the walls of your classroom;
4] Know that you can be an agent of change.

The scale upon which change is needed in education, is monumental. Why not introduce to the profession a rite of passage that addresses this need for change; and why not do so on a large scale? Such an event has the potential to inspire novice and experienced educators alike, to model lifelong learning. There are few more important characteristics to nurture in classroom teachers.

Photo Credit" M00by; Marie-Chantale Turgeon