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Presentation
When one has no stake in the way things are, when one’s needs or opinions
are provided no forum, when one sees oneself as the object of unilateral
actions, it takes no particular wisdom to suggest that one would
rather be elsewhere. (Sarason, 1990, p. 83)
Stated in a more positive way:
When people have an opportunity to participate in decisions and
shape strategies that vitally affect them, they will develop a sense
of ownership in what they have determined and commitment to seeing
that the decisions are sound and the strategies are useful, effective
and carried out. This theory is basic to a democratic society. (Burns
& Lofquist, 1996, p.10)
I Value Your Participation: Now Sit Down and Shut Up (Participation
as the Third Resiliency Factor)
| Think about your high school years. What are your most powerful
and valuable memories? It doesn’t matter whether these are
positive or negative. You should have several examples in mind.
Eliminate any that involved athletics, the fine and performing arts,
school leadership activities, and school social life. Focus only
on memories from academic classes. Next, and harder to do, eliminate
the memory if it is primarily associated with the charisma of the
teacher. Write down whatever you still have in mind. |
Given the constraints I placed on you, it is likely that you have few
if any memories to write down. You may remember a field trip or the
learning that followed the death of a fellow student or public figure.
Most likely you remember little that was directly part of the academic
curriculum in high school. However, if I do not place these limitations
on you, you probably have a flood of memories, many deeply felt and
often reminisced about, some positive and some negative, that are of
great significance to you.
I have asked hundreds of people to do this task. Typically, in a group
of 30, no more than 5 have anything written down. Yet all 30 have vivid
memories of participating in sports or marching band, of dances, of
attending sporting events and pep rallies, of laughing about the idiosyncrasies
of particular teachers and fellow students, of being laughed at or excluded
by fellow students, etc. No wonder so many tax payers are hesitant to
vote for additional taxes for schools. Their memories indicate that
what was learned in classrooms was not particularly important to their
lives. Most people do not feel that the academics of school actively
engaged them or challenged them to use their minds well. Most people
feel that the academics of school were “done to them” with
little consideration for their interests and with little knowledge of
who they were as people.
What would a school look like whose culture is centered on meaningful
participation by all students?
• Students are working in the library, computer lab,
laboratories, and hallways, individually and collaboratively with
peers.
• Students are engaged in required helpfulness:
• Older students are seen working with younger students;
• Students are engaged with peers as peer helpers, conflict
resolvers and tutors;
• Students spend time each week in service learning projects
on and off campus.
• Class meetings and school-wide forums are held regularly
to gather student input regarding meaningful school issues. These
meetings are often facilitated by students.
• An effort is being made to include all student groups
in the daily life of the school; students are not seen on the
fringes of the school campus, alienated and voicing displeasure
with the school, staff and peers.
• A large percentage of the students participate in and
lead a wide range of school activities.
• Signs on campus encourage students to join activities
and do not indicate hurdles to complete; the words “students
must” do not appear on school postings.
• Time is provided at least weekly for teachers to work
together on curriculum, instruction and assessment.
• Most students, faculty and staff are known and welcomed
by name, and many parents and community members are known and
welcomed by name.
• Drug, alcohol, smoking, fighting infractions are statistically
small and show an annual decrease.
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What would curriculum, instruction and assessment be like
in a school that is designed to foster meaningful participation by all
students?
Curriculum
• Curriculum is project-based, set around complex issues,
some of which relate to school and community issues.
• Students have choices in the specifics of what they investigate,
how they do the investigation, and how they demonstrate what they
have learned.
• Service learning is a part of every student’s academic
program.
Instruction
• Teachers ask students questions that require students
to do critical, reflective thinking.
• Teachers spend much of their time coaching students,
and students spend much of their time working individually and
in small groups.
• Students are usually not sitting in desks in rows.
• Students are not seen sitting unengaged in the back of
classrooms.
• School resources are readily available; computers and
resource materials are easy for students to access.
Student Assessment
• Students exhibit and reflect on what they have learned.
• Standards for quality work are well known, and often
designed with student input.
• Teachers use student work to guide classroom and school
practices.
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How would teacher and administrator roles change in such
a school?
• Principals, teachers, students, parents, community
members and classified staff, are engaged in school-wide decision
making around issues of substance, including establishing school
priorities, budgeting to support those priorities, and hiring
of personnel.
• Norms for decision-making, consensus-building, and conflict
resolution are mutually agreed upon, followed, and regularly reassessed.
• Meetings focus on meaningful input and decision-making
rather than information giving; agendas are posted with opportunities
for agenda input; relevant information is provided ahead of meetings;
participants are at meetings on time; meetings start on time and
end on time.
• Divergent thinking is encouraged and heard in formal
meetings and in informal conversations.
• Put downs, side conversations and comments that indicate
exclusion are not heard in or out of meetings.
• Mistakes are celebrated as learning experiences, and
responsibility for mistakes are shared without blame.
• Teachers work collegially, sharing curriculum and instructional
strategies, talking about students and student work, coaching
each other to be more effective. Time and resources are provided
to support this.
• Teachers talk freely about feeling valued by administrators,
parents and students as participants in the whole school community.
• Administrators, faculty, classified staff, students,
and parents seem to enjoy being together; across roles, people
seek each other out, talk together, laugh together.
• Faculty and staff are not seen brooding in the faculty
room or in the parking lot.
• Students are given classroom and school-wide responsibilities
of increasing importance with age.
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