Recently, I had an extended and engaging conversation with two distinguished educators, Sean Cain and Mike Laird.
It was a most uncanny experience for me. The more we talked, the more I realised that their views on education and especially on classroom behaviour (instruction, classroom management and assessment) exactly mirrored mine.
Sean Cain is the immediate past State Director of Innovative School Redesign in Texas. Mike Laird is a public school administrator as well as an adjunct professor and a coach for aspiring school leaders. As we delved into the Fundamental Five for quality instruction, I felt as though I had died and gone to heaven.
We shared the assessment of Mike Schmoker, the noted education researcher and writer, that “the single greatest determinant of learning is not socioeconomic factors or funding levels. It is instruction,” and its quality or lack thereof! It is also a given fact that some teachers are more effective than most others.
As we spoke, my mind drifted back to an often repeated statement that is clearly and always an attempt at being politically correct and avoiding offending anyone. This non-sequitor simply states that “the vast majority of teachers work hard.” So what does this mean? Bus drivers work hard, cane cutters work hard, lawyers work hard, maids work hard. Is that supposed to be a badge of glory? We are paid to work hard. But are our efforts well thought out and smartly executed? Does the end product show that we work effectively? That should be our focus.
In a country where we annually highlight the successes of students doing exit exams we can be easily fooled into believing that our educational system and standards are better and higher than what they really are. The outstanding little cluster that brings the praises and the media attention to one school or the other quite decidedly masks the noticeable number of underachievers and failures that are in much greater numbers than the high flying group.
We must accept, as my two colleagues in conversation boldly stated, “doing nothing overtly wrong is no longer good enough. The requirement now is that teachers and schools have to do a number of things significantly right just to keep up with the ever-rising accountability bar.” The ever shrinking global village increases competition and also demands higher quality. Our country’s developmental needs, some of which are not yet known, mandate that high standards and accountability must be at the forefront of all that we do in schools.
For those of us who have sojourned in the field of education for an extended period of time, we know the inextricable link between academic performance and student discipline. Hence, as Cain puts it and with which I totally agree: “When teachers do not have to spend significant time solving the problems of what to teach, when to teach it and how to teach and assess it, they are able to focus their time and attention on what really matters.” This is a clarion call for planning and structuring as well as purposeful and positive student engagement. We must work hard and smart for good school climate and effective student development. Understand and respect what is working and why it is working, and follow the template.
In any profession, the practitioner must ask the simple question: “Is there a simple plan for dramatically improving my effectiveness? For the teacher who is seeking strong and successful classroom instruction, the answer is yes. It is bound up in the structure proposed by Cain and Laird and totally accepted by this educator. It is known as the Fundamental Five.
This involves the simple steps of framing the lesson, working in the power zone (which may be different for each individual), having frequent small-group, purposeful talks about the learning taking place in the lesson, recognising and reinforcing (both academic as well as social and behavioural issues) and have children write critically in every lesson (if for no more than two minutes). Try it teachers, the results may shock you!
It requires hard work but that’s what we do, isn’t it?
Jeff Broomes is an experienced educator, principal and community organiser who also serves as vice president of the Barbados Cricket Association and director of the West Indies Cricket Board. Email: UncleJeff2@hotmail.com