Focus on Teachers Newsletter

Volume 1, No. 5, October 2002

CONTENTS

Editor’s Musings
In Their Own Words
Article of the Month: A Matter of Confidence and Meaningful Support: Teachers' Perception of their Personal Impact on Teaching and Learning
The Power of Metaphor in Shaping Behavior
Question of the Month
Teaching Tip of the Month
International Availability of Teaching in Mind 
In Closing

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Editor’s Musings

We're a bit late this month, folks. My apologies. In various ways, this month's newsletter addresses the way teachers perceive and treat students. In the past months, the newsletter has focused on theories and ideas. Articles have discussed various aspects of teacher thinking and its influence on teaching and learning. I figured it was about time to put some practical application behind those theories and ideas. Through the generosity of Howard Weiner, an assistant professor of education at Adelphi University, we have a first hand account of the role of teacher perceptions when introducing new programs and how they can be addressed. Howard's article will be particularly interesting to those of you involved in inclusion programs. However, the concepts are equally valid in any classroom.

Louis Schmier provides us with another of his thought-provoking "random thoughts." It's so challenging that, this month, it fills the role of both the In Their Own Words and Teaching Tip of the Month.

A wonderful suggestion for a shift in metaphor away from No Child Left Behind comes from Ferdi Serim, editor of MultiMedia Schools.

For our international friends in Australia, New Zealand, and South America--some good news about local availability of Teaching in Mind.

And finally, I'll be doing a short workshop at the Making a Difference Through Teacher Education Conference in Birmingham, Alabama this month (October 14-17). If any of you are in the Birmingham area, let me know. I'd love to meet you.

*****

In Their Own Words

This month, one of Louis Schmier's "random thoughts" encompasses so much of what I personally believe about teaching that I had to include it, even though it is quite long. In fact, I've omitted the Teaching Tip of the Month because I think this serves in both capacities. My Teaching Tips are, as you know, not "how-to" teaching methodologies. They are, instead, tips about how teachers can bring about remarkable changes in students by changing the only thing it is within their power to directly change--themselves and their own thinking. You may not agree with what Louis says about a teacher's responsibility. And because Louis is a university professor, some of what he does may not be applicable, so you may have to tailor his ideas to your own teaching situation. But as always, he offers us much to think about.

Here I was walking along in the marshy darkness. The temperature was twice that of Pennsylvania ten days ago. There were no mosquitoes in pharaonic headdress flying about. So, I wasn't worried about West Nile. I was thinking about a conversation I had this past week with a colleague on my campus.  In the course of our chit-chat, I mentioned that I had just returned from giving a workshop on exciting the classroom at Clarion University in Pennsylvania.  Some of the rest of our chatting went something like this.

"What do you do to turn on the students?"

"It's not so much what I do as who I am. I love each of them and
believe in each of them, and struggle to help each of them to love and
believe in themselves."

"Be serious."

"I am."

"No, seriously. I'm curious. The students are always talking about how exciting your classes are," he asked in something of an air of disbelief. "The students in my classes are bored.  I'm not sure I know why."

"Who's responsible for that?" I asked as I looked directly at him.

He look back with an incredulous gaze. "You saying we are responsible for the students being bored or excited?"

"Yes. We're the authority figures. We're in charge. We're responsible for the climate in there. We can't get students to jump up and down with a yawn. We can't get them to 'rah rah' with a 'bah.' You won't conjure up a smile with a sneer."

"Well, then, from what I hear you apparently don't yawn or sneer. What's your trick? I'd like to know."

"No tricks. I just told you. I love them and believe in them. If you want the students to be excited, be excited about each student. Don't be excited just about the subject. Win their hearts if you want their minds. Love them, each and every one of them. Believe in them, have faith in them, have hope for them, notice them--unconditionally."

When he asked me to describe what I do, I gave him a thumbnail
sketch of my classes.

"Remember, it's not one thing I do.  It's a total package not just of techniques, but of attitudes that creates a mood of trust and respect." I explained. 

I told him I have the students from one semester write confidential letters about me and the class to students in the following semester that I hand out first day of class. I told him that on that first day, I meet each student at the door with a welcoming handshake and we all walk around the class shaking hands and introducing ourselves. I described the classroom community building exercises and the exercises I use to lay down the four working themes of the class. I talked of the daily supporting and encouraging "words for the day" I or other students put on the blackboard and how we discuss them for a few minutes. I have them journal daily and read them every week so I can get to know them a bit more and have an inkling how life is getting in their way. I explained why I and each student write what good happened that day on the blackboard at the beginning of each class. There's the small but essential small talk, the looking, the joking, the listening, the noticing, the laughing, the smiling, the encouraging, the supporting, the constant emphasis on the positive.

"The other day I heard a student in the back of the room whisper that the day a project was due was her 21st birthday. To everyone's
surprise, I brought in four dozen birthday doughnuts and we all sang
'Happy Birthday' to her. The small stuff isn't small."

And then, I described some the hands-on, get-into-the-material
projects and how I no longer lecture or give tests and exams in my attempt to help students learn to become life-long learners and unlearn being merely short-range grade getters. Telling him that I'm always
experimenting, I described how I just tried something new. I had asked
these students who had been in class only three weeks to write a
confidential letter about their reactions to what we were doing in class
to the professors attending that workshop.

"Oh, I could never do any of that," he exclaimed raising his hands like a red light to stop my advance.

"I think you'd surprise yourself," I softly explained.  "I know over the years I surprised myself.  So would you."

My colleague didn't hear me--or didn't want to hear me.  As I offered him encouragement, support, and help, he sadly peppered me with a string of defensive explanations.  "Do you know what the others in the department would have to say?" "I would love to but I really couldn't." "What if I try some of it and it doesn't work?" "It's just not me."  "I'm not comfortable doing that." "What good would it do?"  And he concluded with a resigned, "You know, I'm almost sorry I asked."

"You're sounding like a student," I finally retorted with a soft voice, a friendly chuckle, and an understanding smile. "What would you tell a student if he or she said any of that to you when you gave out an assignment?" I asked.

"Oh, that's different!" was his ready come back.
 
"Is it?  Why?" I asked.  I don't think we professors with our degrees and resumes are all that different from the students as we pretend or suppose we are. If you say that of yourself, how can you ask students to think and to feel and to say and to do otherwise?  That 'do as I say, not as I do' never works."

[The remainder of Louis's "random thought" is equally thought provoking. He compares his colleague to Moses cringing before the burning bush and points out that the Moses that parted the Red Sea was the same person, but with a different attitude. Part 2 next month.]

”Make it a good day.”

Louis

[Since 1993, Dr. Schmier has shared his “random thoughts” about the human dimension of education with various listservs. To read more “random thoughts” visit http://www.halcyon.com/arborhts/rt/]

If you have read something you would like to share with others or would like to contribute your own thoughts to this section, send your ideas in the body of an email to feedback@TeachersMind.com.

Article of the Month

A Matter of Confidence and Meaningful Support: Teachers’ Perception of their Personal Impact on Teaching and Learning

 by Howard Weiner, PhD.

One of the most powerful ways teachers can change the culture of a school is to alter the way students are treated. When teachers volunteer to integrate the general education environment with students who were previously segregated in special education classrooms, beliefs, values and behaviors can change significantly. In a large urban, K-8 school district, teachers in inclusion classes received a dynamic staff development program and reported changes in attitudes and practice. Teachers in schools that were comfortable with various forms of tracking are starting to reflect upon what their priorities should be after a group of their colleagues created exemplary inclusion classrooms.

Master teachers provided support for volunteer inclusion teachers. They met with teachers before, after and during school to discuss values, beliefs and teacher- defined issues. In addition, teachers received extensive in-classroom training on effective use of research-based teaching strategies. Even by criteria that would impress the public and school administrators, the inclusion program was successful. Statistically significant and meaningful improvements were made by both general education and special education inclusion class students compared to cohorts in non-inclusion classes. Comparisons were made using 2001 vs. 2000 city and state standardized reading tests in grades three through eight.

Internal and External Factors 

If you think that helping teachers to use effective practice is the critical element in developing optimum learning environments for all students, consider this data from surveying teachers and parents of students in these successful inclusion classes.

Parents and teachers have different perspectives on what makes a successful inclusion program. In one study, parents valued commitment of teachers to make inclusion work, and peer acceptance. Teachers focused on resources, help in modifying curriculum and developing adaptations, training, and planning time (Bennette et. al., 1997).

Last May, I surveyed several hundred parents and teachers of students in inclusion classes. I asked them to rank order eight often-cited factors responsible for successful inclusion. The eight factors can be viewed in terms of internal (teacher beliefs and values) and external factors (school resources outside of teacher control). The two internal factors were a teacher taking a personal interest in each child, and an environment in which all students are valued members of the class. The external factors differed in terms of classroom teacher involvement. Three factors describe training, scheduling and materials for the classroom teacher. The other three factors defer to someone else (teachers and paras) to address the needs of students with deficits.

121 scorable sets of responses were received from parents. Above all else, results indicated that parents thought “a teacher who takes a personal  interest in the child” was by far the most important factor in successful inclusion (55%). “An environment where the student is seen as a valued member” was the second most frequently selected factor in successful inclusion (17%). Interestingly, “having a paraprofessional in the classroom” was selected as the most important factor by only 3% of parents. We often hear of parents demanding, even suing, to have extra personnel assigned so their child can succeed in the inclusion classroom. However, having caring and committed teachers was far more important to parents than extra and individualized support personnel.

When teachers first consider volunteering for our district’s  inclusion program, they voice many of the research literature-cited concerns. For example, ”If a student with deficits doesn’t succeed in an inclusion classroom, what alternative placement options exist?”  “What special education staff will assist teachers and students in inclusion classrooms?” These are important considerations but do not reflect a moral commitment to all students or effective practice. For many teachers who volunteered for inclusion assignments, especially in schools trying inclusion for the first time, reservations about students with disabilities succeeding in general education classes were real and prominent in their thinking. It may be that some teachers initially volunteered because they thought all students had a right to access the general education environment. They may also have feared that inclusion might soon be mandated without the support services now available. The school culture fostered accommodating students yet harbored low expectations.

Before and After Results

Last May, I gave the inclusion teachers the same survey given to parents. By this time, teachers had at least eight months of experience in an inclusion classroom and had weekly master teacher (inclusion facilitator) support from the beginning. Of the 77 scorable survey response sets returned, the factor teachers selected as most important was the same one selected by parents—“a teacher who takes personal interest in the child” (36%). Second in importance, just as with the parents, was “an environment where student is seen as a valued member” (25%). Only 2% of teachers selected common preparation periods as most important and only 11% said that having a paraprofessional in the classroom was most important.

Overall, it is clear that both teachers and parents agreed upon what makes inclusion successful. Both groups overwhelmingly identified ethical and socially responsible teacher attitudes and behavior as far more important than additional personnel or other traditional organizational resources.

Why did teachers change their perception about what really matters in providing excellent teaching after experience in the inclusion program? I attribute the change to the master teacher support that focused on ethical practice and may have rekindled teachers’ aspirations to help all students learn well.

Inclusion facilitators asked classroom teachers to reflect on their practice and consider the types of self-inventory metaphors and other inquiry methods found in Appendix A of Teaching in Mind by Judith Yero . Over time, teachers began to feel more motivation and confidence in examining notions about teaching, learning and students, attempting to understand deep-seated beliefs. When asked e.g., “What prevents you from having as high expectations for your students as you have for your own children?” teachers asked themselves about their aspirations and then requested help to address perceived obstacles to achieving them.

It is difficult to asses the impact of this non-traditional staff development program that is so individualized and focused on attitudes, beliefs and values. My gut feeling is that the inclusion facilitators represent a spiritually uplifting embodiment of teachers’ highest aspirations. They rekindled deep-seated thirst for knowledge, and stored powers of curiosity,  experimentation, and especially caring, to help all children learn well. Joining the classroom teacher in pursuit of excellent teaching provided confidence and high expectations. In effect, the inclusion facilitators treated the classroom teachers with the same concern, respect, interest, and gave them the same opportunity to explore and grow that, in turn, the teachers would offer all students.

Factors Affecting Teacher Self-Efficacy

There are two antithetical forces teachers struggle with that detract from teachers’ confidence in their own competency to teach well—their self-efficacy. External factors leading to frustration and diminished self-efficacy include:

the increased workload;

a more challenging student population;

still newer innovations replacing recently adopted innovative programs; and

the need to address an ever-increasing number of complex curriculum standards.

Inadequate, large group, one-shot training formats also lead to unfair accountability pressures, further diminishing a sense of competency.

The inclusion facilitators (master teachers) take measured steps to convince teachers that striving for optimum learning environments is a most worthy pursuit. They stress that observable improvements in student learning are the product of high expectations and respectful teaching. Everything the facilitators do can be viewed in terms of building confidence and providing opportunity for reflective inquiry—helping teachers get in touch with their efficacy aspirations.

What about the research-based best strategies that facilitators introduce, model, and help make a pivotal part of every inclusion classroom? I think the will and skill mixture is a complex interdependent entity. On the one hand, improved student outcomes have been shown to precede changes in teacher attitudes and beliefs in many studies. On the other hand, reflection and getting in touch with the rationale for going into teaching in the first place also spurs better teaching practice that results in higher student achievement.

A Case in Point

It is easy to look at the impact of perfecting one element in the absence of the other to see their reciprocal nature. Last year, another New York City K-8 school district, one of the poorest I know of, hired adults who left established careers to become teachers. These adults were immediately put into classrooms. They receive some support and training, but understandably feel overwhelmed by the lack of teaching skills they can offer needy students. This month, I started to meet once a week with eighteen of these “teaching fellows.” On average, they are about 35 years old, having left careers in social work, law, performing arts, retail, and other business related professions. They were always interested in teaching as a result of their own or their children’s positive school experiences. The free degree and certification preparation now offered was an impetus to start a teaching career. 

I used some of Judy Yero’s self-inquiry questions to try to understand their values and beliefs. In response to the question about creating the perfect school on another planet without any constraints, I found the teaching fellows emphasized how they would take care of and protect the students. Missing were mentions of how they would use instructional strategies to help them learn. They said, e.g., ”My class would have no more than five students so I could meet each student’s needs.” “I’d buy them books and art supplies and they would never go without.” “I’d have a place a student could stay on the weekend if he couldn’t go home.”

Their responses last week to metaphors about teaching and learning were also nurturing-based. A popular response was comparing teaching to raising a child and again, few described any details about how they would use instruction to help students. They also expressed a lack of confidence and uncertainty about their teaching. As one person said, “Teaching is like running a marathon because it takes a lot of work, you need a lot of training, but it is extremely rewarding. Sometimes you think you might not make it.”

When I gave them the eight factors important to successful inclusion survey last week, they had already read three chapters about inclusion in a textbook. Therefore, they were familiar with the concepts reflected in the six external factors. We had also read an article by Judy Yero on attitudes and beliefs. Can you guess how they prioritized the eight items? Do you think they differed from the more experienced teachers who volunteered for, and were supported in, inclusion classes that you just read about?

If you suspected that the teaching fellows, as very caring individuals, gave top priority to internal factors, you were right. If you suspected that the teaching fellows, so lacking in instructional expertise and confidence to effectively teach students with deficits, gave top priority to external factors that assigned others to instruct them, you were also right. The teaching fellows created a bimodal pattern, with 42% selecting others to instruct students with deficits. 38% had the valuing environment and a personal interest in students as their first or second priority for successful inclusion. Perhaps it is because they are so nurturing that the teaching fellows deferred to others with more expertise to help the neediest students. They also believed that the factors in their control, taking an interest in and valuing students, were almost equally important.

The point is that it takes both skill and will to confidently and deeply engage all students in an optimum learning environment. I would wager that two years from now, the teaching fellows, given the same factors in successful inclusion survey, would present a pattern giving top priority solely to internal factors. If they had inclusion facilitators in their classrooms now, these new teachers would seize that opportunity to pick their brains for effective strategies to help all students do well. It is their dedicated striving to teach well and to guide students that helps the teaching fellows struggle on when less socially responsible individuals would have been given up. Did you ever see a marathon runner without a lot of perseverance?

Anyone interested in further details about the inclusion teacher support program, the survey and/or standardized test results, or have questions, feel free to e-mail me at weiner@adelphi.edu. I also would welcome any comments or reactions to this article.

About Howard Weiner: I received a Ph. D in educational psychology at New York University , and a certificate from a three year post-doctoral program in psychoanalytic psychotherapy from the Long Island Institute for Psychotherapy. I recently retired from a 34 year career in the New York City Board of education having served as a special education classroom teacher, Chairperson of a Committee on Special Education, and for the last fifteen years a District Administrator of Special Education. Currently I am an assistant professor in the school of education at Adelphi University. I also maintained a small private practice as a licensed psychologist until this year. An article on teacher efficacy and staff development will be published in Teaching Exceptional Children next summer. I have presented at national and state conferences on inclusion and staff development research.

Teaching Tip of the Month

Incorporated this month into In Their Own Words

The Power of Metaphor in Shaping Behavior

Recently, I received an email from one of the educational lists to which I belong. It was from Ferdi Serim, editor of MultiMedia Schools. In his October editorial for Direct Connect, a subscriber based journal, Serim coined the phrase, Move Every Child Ahead. As he says in the editorial, "So that we are not distracted by the baggage of hyperfocus on annualized, high-stakes testing, or the merits of improving education by eliminating "failing schools," let's consider the characteristics shared by approaches that focus on growth rather than punishment. Let's call such an approach Moving Every Child Ahead, so as not to confuse such efforts with the legislated requirements of No Child Left Behind."  

What image comes to mind when you think of No Child Left Behind? Now compare that image to what you see when you think of Moving Every Child Ahead. I don't know about you, but what I see shifts dramatically. These unconscious metaphor-driven images, and their accompanying feelings, play a significant role in directing our perceptions and behavioral choices. As I pointed out in my article on Standards and Expectations, No Child Left Behind and Raising the Bar are track and field metaphors. Track and field events have winners and losers.

By shifting the metaphor to Moving Every Child Ahead, the burden of winning and losing disappears. There is built-in acceptance of where each child is now, rather than implied "failure" on the part of either the teacher or student if students are "behind" some mythical norm. Perhaps of greatest importance, Moving Every Child Ahead forces educators to focus on individuals. You can't move a child ahead unless you know where he or she is now. 

The challenge to transform the process of education from groups to individuals is perhaps the most frightening aspect for many teachers. There is the same fear that we see in Louis's colleague. Unfortunately, that fear often arises from concerns about self-image and self-efficacy rather than out of concern for student well-being. But shifting the metaphor is certainly a place to begin. At least it is based on the presuppositions that every child can move ahead and that teachers have the power to facilitate that movement.

Ferdi Serim's focus is on the role of technology in schools. The full text of his article can be found at http://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/oct02/dcon1002.htm

Question of the Month

How would changing the metaphor of our current focus on educational reform from Leave No Child Behind to Move Every Child Ahead affect your thinking and teaching? What steps can you, personally, take to shift education's focus from the same standards for all to individual growth for each student? 

International Availability of Teaching in Mind

For some time, I've felt bad that those of you outside the United States had to pay such high shipping costs when ordering from our website. In June, Teaching in Mind was accepted by a distributor who supplies the book trade internationally. That means the book should be available to bookstores. If you ask your bookstore for Teaching in Mind and they don't know where to obtain it, here's the contact information. Please note that these are distributors. While some of them may sell directly to the public, their primary role is to supply books to bookstores. 

  In Closing

Keep in mind that we always welcome comments or questions and will be happy to publish any appropriate material that you'd care to share with our readers. Contact us at info@teachersmind.com.

Until next month...

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