I'm at Educon.
If you're not familiar with Educon, it's a conference/conversation hosted by Chris Lehmann and the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, PA.
I was fortunate to be able to spend Thursday and Friday hanging around the school. Here's what I saw:
- Lots of smiles.
- Loud classrooms
- A principal's office that looked more like grand central with equal numbers of staff and students talking and working, coming and going
- Teachers who discussed personal issues with students
- A brief power outage that didn't paralyze learning despite them being a 1:1 school
- A lack of emphasis on technology
- Students occasionally off task
- Students excited to talk with adults
None of these things are particularly amazing and are all things you could find in many, if not all schools in North America. I didn't see one thing that couldn't be done almost anywhere. The teachers are good teachers but they aren't doing anything I haven't seen before. So what's the big deal?
There are many more observations and insights that one would make beyond the few I've listed but I'm not sure that any additions would tell us that "one thing". It's obvious that leadership plays a significant role and that grows culture over time which is undeniably palpable. While many will continue to deconstruct and analyze how, and if this type of place is replicable, Good teaching and caring adults can lead to a really wonderful place which Science Leadership Academy truly is. But maybe SLA isn't so unique after all? Maybe there are more schools and classrooms like this but we just aren't telling anyone? The level of connectedness among staff doesn't hurt their image but indeed follows closely with one of their guiding principles: Learning can – and must – be networked. But behind that networked learning lurks teachers who know how to teach just like many of the teachers you work with or you already are.
I didn't see any one thing that blew me away at SLA . They just seem to embody the things we think schools should be.
cc licensed flickr photo shared by shareski
We speak about integration as a goal for new instructional technologies and remain surprised when we actually encounter situations where technology is no longer an innovation. Better than half of my fourth and fifth graders have cell phones and the rest use their parents mobiles as thoughtlessly as they use the land-line in their homes. "I'll Skype you," is a common phrase at the end of the day in my room. You commented recently that our division has 1-2 computing. It doesn't actually feel like that to me in practice, but I realized that if the computer lab and library at our school were distributed tot he classrooms, we likely would have it. Technological integration is emerging around us.
I'm reminded of another blog-tweet (cannot discriminate between the two sometimes) requesting that we stop talking about teaching for the 21st Century. We are nine years into it now. Thanks to the open policies of our division, we can be technologically integrated now. There are other sorts of openness that contribute to effective learning environments. Effective staff teams, an open-door administration, and flexible environments are a few.
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Thanks for your thoughts, Dean. This sentence of yours sums up my thoughts, "I didn't see one thing that couldn't be done almost anywhere." Whenever I read about SLA or other schools with great accolades, I see glimpses of my school or a school or two down the road – just your average U.S. school with adequate access to technology. (Note: this is not meant to downplay SLA at all!) One thing I see at schools like SLA is a common expectation of staff and students…something like "this is the way school is going to be…" Pockets of excellence are harder to find at SLA and much easier to find at your average U.S. school, because not everyone is participating. You see, when I expect my students to log on to Moodle at home to continue working on a project (yes, they do have plenty of access at home) or assign practice math problems without grading them, they see these expectations as the exception rather than the norm. Educators transitioning their classrooms to look more like SLA run up against their own colleagues' lower expectations of their students. I believe in the power of one to make a difference, but to make a lasting difference in schools, we need administrators and a large core teacher group to embrace a common set of beliefs before our schools will change as a whole. Does this make any sense?
Dean, I think you're one of the only people I've heard say that SLA didn't blow them away. Most people who have written about their time there are excited about what they see. I haven't been there, but feel that SLA IS very different from many other high schools for a variety of reasons – exceptional leadership, entire staff buy-in, students who WANT to be there due to an application process, etc. If there are more outstanding schools, we need to hear about it. We need to read about what they are doing to be successful. I think it's important that the information is shared so others can learn. I'd really like to see examples of elementary schools who are excelling more than the norm. I'm a little disappointed we don't hear enough about what's being done at the elementary level.
Chad,
i hope I wasn’t sounding negative. I simply think that SLA is about the sum of the parts. The whole is what’s impressive. The other parts are being done in many places but few are doing it in sync. That part again, is great but as i say, it’s what we dream schools can be. It’s not a perfect place, but a pretty good one.
I don't think you were, but it did sound as though SLA was just a normal school, which I don't believe it is. Your comment about the sum of the parts does summarize SLA. Everyone has bought into the same beliefs – and I think that's the struggle many schools have. For a variety of reasons, perhaps the structure of the public school system and teacher contracts, which I support, this isn't happening. As the saying goes, you (a school) is only as strong as the weakest link. Too many schools have teachers not buying into the philosophy, which hurts the students in the long run.
I never thought I'd say this, but I'm starting to think that charter schools who do not have to follow strict district/union guidelines may have a better chance of succeeding. I wouldn't hurt either, if schools could hand select their students, like SLA does – I think that's a HUGE advantage.
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What sets SLA apart three and a half years in is not the innovativeness of the design but the quality of the implementation.
(which largely agrees with Dean's observations, I believe)
Thanks Tom,
I’ve longed believed that education’s biggest problem has been deep implementation. Many initiatives, from Professional Learning Communities, Response to Intervention and a hundred others look good on paper and are good but are not implemented at all. Chris simply does what he said he would do but in deeper ways than most. I think it’s much like the post game interviews with coaches who say, “we just didn’t execute”. Which often means someone reverted back to familiar instead of sticking with the game plan.
i agree with tom thanks a lot
Mr. Shareski-Thank you for sharing your thoughts on EduCon and demonstrating that SLA is not perfect but great because of the way the staff at SLA executes their beliefs through progressive teaching and learning. I've been reading about SLA and Mr. Lehmann's work for a while now and it is so easy to believe that it is "pie in the sky" and completely unattainable for average administrators, teachers and students. Your perspective inspires me to keep practicing the things I know are good for kids and nudging teachers forward.
Thanks Janis,
It may not look exactly the same but good schools are within our grasp. It does take good leadership and strong implementation. Certainly easier said than done but possible.
PS. Don’t call me Mr. Shareski, just call me Dean. I already feel old enough as it is. 😉