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Debbie's avatar

Love this concept. Teaching is such a complex thing. It's all about context, and there is no one right way. Even "wrong ways" often have a lot good about them.

I've been in a strange position this year. I come from teaching in private schools, where I was a teacher and later a program coordinator. This year, I am at a public school, working as a coach. One difference between public and private I've noticed is that the public schools use rubrics for teacher performance. The term "look for" was not in my vocabulary until recently. In the past, I might have walked into a classroom trying to understand how the teacher goes about creating a safe environment, or how students are supported when they struggle, etc etc. But this year, I might walk in looking for the number of times teachers create intentional opportunities for peer conversation with full sentences. Much more specific.

This specificity gives me a robust collection of teacher moves that I can suggest. I have rubrics that lay out the various aspects of education, and suggest best practices in each. In a way, teaching is more scientific, more structured. And frankly, I see more when I walk into the room because I have more understanding about what I might be looking for.

But I keep wondering about what is lost. I think the push towards rubrics and accountability have broken teaching into tiny chunks, but the real understanding lies in the larger picture, with all the complexity and contradictions. Thanks, Dylan, for finding a way to talk about that.

As for the Systems Thinking you bring up at the end of your post -- so important and interesting! I started to put together some Causal Loop Diagrams (https://thesystemsthinker.com/fine-tuning-your-causal-loop-diagrams-part-i/) at work a few months ago. I was not focused on teaching, though. I was thinking about how our school initiatives for Standards Based Grading and Competency Based Learning were affecting the culture of the school. And I can't share it right now, because it's at my desk, and we are on vacation this week.

Let me see if I can come up with any ideas to share ...

-Debbie

https://openset.blog/

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