Say 'No' to the Status Quo (#idesmar)

Before I am demonized for protecting the status quo in my last post, please understand that I advocate many changes in education. We have a long way to go to provide a truly fantastic education for the 21st Century.

I expect teachers to work very hard to meet the needs of a wildly diverse student body. I expect teachers to keep learning new content and new pedagogy throughout their careers. I expect teachers to find ways to ignite the passions of their students. I expect students to take responsibility for their learning in an environment that encourages them to be creative thinkers. I expect teachers to take advantage of the vast resources available to them through an online Personal Learning Network. I expect teachers to be responsible for their own prossional development in an environment that encourages them to collaborate and grow.

I expect principals to tackle the difficult task of truly supervising the teachers even when that means working to remove an ineffective, veteran teacher. I expect principals to give their teachers a sense of purpose, a large amount of autonomy, and the time/resources to gain mastery when creating professional development programs,

I expect all of us to talk less about the poverty-related problems our students bring to their education and talk more about what we are going to do to improve their learning. I expect to hear talk like 'What can I do to be better?'

I expect the community to trust their educators. I expect the community to want to be involved. I expect the community to support their schools.

I expect a lot, but I know it can be done.

The thing is, once we improve in all the ways that I've mentioned, we just have to change more. Our society and our children will never stop changing, and we have to change with them. Good teaching will always require good learning on the part of the teacher.

So, say 'No' to the status quo.


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