Speaking for Teachers on the Issues

As you may well know, I am seeking your support in the upcoming election for the presidency of Edmonton Public Teachers Local No.37.

Some of the important issues which make up my platform, and for which I advocate continuously, are:

• Class Size and Composition -Class size and class composition are perhaps the greatest concern for a majority of teachers. Personal relationships are fundamental to the teaching-learning experience but increasingly crowded classrooms and complex classroom compositions have lead to work intensification for teachers and impeded the development of these positive relationships.

After a brief respite, we have seen class sizes once again begin to grow, year-to-year, especially in the middle grades. Coupled with this rise, teachers have also witnessed the early effects of "inclusive-education." This initiative, while being a laudable one, requires the necessary and sufficient support mechanisms be in place if it is to succeed. As with all new educational initiatives, without receiving the required support, all that results is more intensified working conditions for teachers and more intensified classroom-learning conditions.

Reducing numbers of students in classrooms and providing the conditions to make inclusive-education a successful initiative are definitely cost issues, primarily because they require hiring more teachers. Strong and persistent advocacy will be required to ensure that students have the support they need and to ensure, also, that teachers do not experience even greater work intensification.

While controlling class size and providing the conditions to make
inclusive-education successful remain cost issues, the next two concerns I want to talk about are not. They are more political in nature because they talk about power-relationships and the greater sharing of power. The first of these . . .

• Site-Based (Collaborative) Decision Making - Teachers want to be involved in the decision-making process in their schools. Such involvement brings strengthened engagement on the part of teachers and results in greater teacher retention and increased student achievement. We need a policy that brings consistency in implementation, in this regard, across the District.

About thirteen years ago as teachers entered into contract negotiations, our membership expressed some concerns with Site-Based Management (SBM). Because, in its implementation, SBM had not been coupled with Site-Base Decision Making (SBDM), teachers said they experienced a lack of consistency, school-to-school, with their ability to be part of the decision-making process regarding matters that directly impacted the conditions of their work. Although a joint paper, created by the district and the Local, came about as a result of the ensuing negotiations, little else has occured since then to ensure teachers have a part in making decisions that directly impact their work. We need to move forward on this issue in a substantive manner, and soon.

Educational writer and researcher, Eric Hirsch, in a recent study, found that an inclusive model of decision-making in schools leads to greater retention of teachers, greater capacity-building in those schools, and ultimately leads to increased student achievement! We can't afford not to move ahead with Site-Based (Collaborative)Decision Making to make sure it is practised consistently across the District.

• Self-Directed Professional Development – Teachers want and need ongoing PD. They want to be able to deal with their professional development in an authentic way and should be allowed greater decision making power in this area.

The Alberta Teachers' Association established, a number of years ago, Teacher Professional Growth Plans to give teachers the ability to determine their own professional development needs, establish goals by which they would be evaluated, and develop plans to meet those goals.

However, over the course of the last number of years, most teachers will tell you that self-directed PD has all but disappeared. Unless your growth plan closely follows school and/or District priorities you will likely not have it approved for the funding to see it through. Alberta Initiative for School Improvement (AISI) funds are very much controlled by the District and targeted to District priorities. Professional development has, in essence, become limited to staff development - employee training, if you will.

Self-directed PD is important because teachers know the areas in which they need to grow their knowledge and expertise. As educators, we also understand that motivation and engagement and real learning occurs when learners have some choice in their curricula. Because of the nature of their profession, teachers need to be life-long learners so that they can address the varied and changing needs of their students and their society. Being allowed more self-direction and choice in their PD can ensure that teachers are satisfying their professional needs and growing in their professionalism.

• Local Accountability – All effective organizations have accountability measures and routine methods for gathering feedback from the members of the organization. The District Satisfaction Survey that you complete each year is an example of such practice.

Getting feedback is becoming increasingly easier through the use of on-line tools such as surveymonkey. And these tools are virtually cost free to the organization. GETCA, our convention association, recently sought my input  and level of satisafaction using this tool. Information gathering tools such as this could be a way our Local asks its members, "How are we doing?" This feedback could then be used to determine how best to continue serving members' needs. Establishing accountability methods and measures, as policy, would ensure our Local remains responsive, adaptive, and accountable to its members.

One thing individual teachers can do is register your personal email address with the Local. (Unlike many school jurisdictions, our Local is not allowed to communicate with you via your school email address).

We can do better but we need effective leadership in order to make progress on all of these issues. I believe I can provide that leadership and I ask for your support in the coming election, and in the days to follow.

Collaborative Decisiona Making; What's Toyota Got to Do with It?

"It should be self-evident that when you involve people in the decision-making process they are more likely to support decisions once they are made."

Prologue

Over twenty years ago our school district introduced sight-based management for its schools. This initiative greatly increasesd the ability of schools to make decisions at a site-based level. School administrators now had much more say as to how per-pupil funding would be budgeted for their particular school.The following was written more than three years ago and is slightly dated in some references but the concerns and underlying issues remain current. What I offer here is a perspective on the ways this management model has affected teachers and schools and include suggestions as to how site-based management could become more effective through the addition of a site-based decision making model . . .

So, what's Toyota got to do with it?

The odds are quite good that you own, have owned, or will own a Toyota. (Aren’t we teachers inclined to intelligent, practical, and somewhat conservative consumption?) Toyota has for a long time been the most successful car maker on the planet; their vehicles are in high demand the world round for their high quality, dependability, and resale value. This success is, in large part, a result of innovative practices including the value Toyota places on its employees’ input and the amount of involvement and engagement the company offers to them.

A longstanding policy of Toyota is to encourage its employees to offer any ideas that could potentially improve the quality or efficiency of any company process or product. Japanese companies get a hundred times as many suggestions from their workers as U.S. companies do.

Unlike their American counterparts, Japanese frontline auto-workers have the authority, and are given the responsibility, to make critical day to day decisions, even so far as to“hit the kill switch” if they identify a problem or potential problem on the assembly line. As a daily occurance, teams muster to identify and discuss emergent problems and how correct or mitigate their effect on production.

Allowing such considerable input to the decision-making process may seem like a simple, practical, straightforward approach to the management of an organization however it has proven more difficult for American companies like General Motors to implement. The difficulty, in part, is because “most companies are still organized in a very top-down manner, and have a hard time handing responsibility to front-line workers.” (The Open Secret of Success, The New Yorker, May 12, 2008)

As a model for effective management of organizations Site-Based Decision Making [SBDM] seeks to engage employees in a similar manner. Such a model has proven to be an effective strategy for organizations to improve their processes, products and profits through the involvement and engagement of their workers.

Such an approach recognizes the value of the education and training, experience, and overall knowledge of the frontline worker. In May, 2000 Edmonton Public Schools, in conjunction with Edmonton Public Local of the ATA, produced a school handbook entitled “Framework for Involvement in Site-Based Decision Making.” This document came about as a result of a letter of intent that was signed in 1998’s round of bargaining between our Local and the District.

At that time, teachers had expressed a concern that teacher involvement in a school’s decision making process varied greatly from school to school. Some schools allowed teachers considerable involvement in decision making while others may have allowed very little. The framework document defined involvement as “having the opportunity to make or influence decisions in a variety of ways,” and went on to say that, in general, “staff want to be involved in decisions that affect them and their job including direction setting, the use of available resources and the selection of staff.” (May, 2000)

The guidelines put forward in the framework are prefaced with the following statement: It should be self-evident that when you involve people in the decision-making process they are more likely to support decisions once they are made. The reasoning behind this notion is that participation and involvement will give participants a stake in the decision and engage them in a positive way. A further result of participation is that teachers become more knowledgeable about the issues as they engage in the decision-making process. They are also more likely to show a commitment to decisions once they are made and even more willing to accept accountability for those decisions.

So how are we progressing as an organization with respect to SBDM? Is there still a patchwork of involvement school to school within our district or have schools adopted a more uniform approach to decision making? What direction is being given by the district to administrators in order to realize the benefits of recognizing and involving teachers as stakeholders in the decision making process?

The annual district satisfaction-survey a few years ago indicated that about 75% of teachers were satisfied with their level of involvement in decisions. That may sound like a positive result but a rough calculation would indicate that about a thousand teachers in the district are not satisfied with their level of participation. That is a large number of teachers who are still waiting to be heard.

Professional Development as a Home-grown Product

(This is a narrative that describes the value of self-directed, home-grown professional development and is a companion piece to the one that follows)

What was your best, most memorable, professional development experience? Hopefully, you’ve had so many you’d have a hard time choosing just one; you might even have to make a list. Here are a few of my favourite experiences.

While I was still a student-teacher, the school where I was interning had a PD day. The small staff met with a local consultant, focusing on the writing process. Throughout the course of the day, the woman, guided us through an uncomplicated, straight forward approach to teaching the elements of clear, organized, effective paragraph writing. We practiced the strategies as she demonstrated to us that the particular method could work with students at kindergarten level, in an oral fashion, up to an adult - CEO - level of written communication. Since that time I have been able to teach this concept to a wide range of students, every year, often seeing the results appearing in one form or another on the students’ annual Highest Level of Achievement Testing (HLAT) writing tests.

Not that long after, at the beginning of my career, as a music teacher, I attended the annual Karl Orff workshops lead by a local teacher and music consultant, Judy Sills. The meetings were always enjoyable and wholly practical. The musicality of the event was also inspiring and fun as I found myself in impromptu orchestras, playing simple arrangements on marimbas, xylophones and a whole host of Orff instruments with a large group of fellow teacher-musicians. Sessions began early Saturday mornings and went to long into the afternoon, and I always came away with countless ready-for-next-week lessons and concepts to engage my elementary music students for months to come.

Attending the English Language Arts Council (ELAC) conference in Jasper, Alberta, a few years back, also is high on my list of favourite PD experiences. (ELAC is a branch of the ATA Specialist Councils which provides numerous PD opportunities to Alberta teachers throughout the year). I came back from the conference with an inspired approach to literature circles. This particular strategy had been demonstrated to me by a guest presenter, a high school teacher from Edmonton. I immediately introduced the approach to my Junior High students and watched them undertake writing to each other about their novels with a new enthusiasm.

At the same conference my eyes where opened to the power of the graphic novel by a Calgary teacher who wrote in that medium. I was reminded of that experience when recently, caught in a rainstorm in downtown Vancouver, I found myself in a public library reading a graphic novel long past the time the storm had passed.

Finally, there was the year-long sabbatical when I studied the advances in distance education technologies and methodologies which led to a Masters degree in that field. Being that I was studying at a distance with Athabasca University, I was able to spend two semesters of studying and researching without ever having to leave my home. Classmates engaged in on-line conferencing with the professor and with one another and submitted their work as email attachments. I could be ‘in class” and still wearing my pajamas – now that was luxury! I think I was able to spend more time on task without the need to worry about all those incidental chores and peripheral annoyances related to face-to-face meetings. I cannot measure the numerous ways in which my understanding of pedagogy and the concept of life-long learning were expanded. My studies in the field of instructional design, development, and implementation has also enhanced and transformed my personal practice and refined my critical thinking about education.

What ties these experiences together and makes them memorable is that they have had a positive impact on me, on my teaching practice, and on my students’ learning, as well. And, I dare to say that at times, yes, they’ve been fun! They have also, most often, been personally chosen and self-directed experiences and because of that I have been highly motivated to participate and learn. Each one of the above was also a home-grown, made in Alberta, product developed by local teachers, at a local level, within a local context.

(The article which follows presents a much different approach to the ongoing development of teachers in their practice.)

Staff Development as a Costly, American, Off-the-shelf Product

(This is an article I wrote for our Local magazine a couple of years ago which, I believe, continues to have relevance)

"Over the years, a lot of good things have been done in the name of professional development. So have a lot of rotten things.” (Guskey, T. R., Evaluating Professional Development, 2000).

A New York City teacher’s complaint offers an example of what may be the worst of professional development:

"You see, part of being a teacher is having the opportunity of professional development (PD). Another part is being forced to partake in PD that you don't necessarily want, need, or will do anything for your children. The Dept. of Ed. WASTES hundreds of thousands of dollars each year on useless PD... I am often disgusted at how publishing companies and curriculum designers get rich off of these huge contracts with the NYC public schools... They make millions of dollars off of our kids.” (peaceintheclassroom.blogspot.com)

Her exasperation is clearly evident but what she describes is probably more correctly referred to as Staff Development (SD), not PD.

Although the terms PD and SD are sometimes used interchangeably, SD is what occurs when organizations seek ways to increase the knowledge, skills and attributes of their employees in ways the organization deems appropriate. Arguably, SD is a subset of all those things that make up professional development, but is much narrower in its focus than the broader concept of PD.

I can recall when I have encountered SD and felt frustration similar to that of the teacher from NYC. I’m thinking of those district-wide gatherings where teachers come to hear some speaker from the U.S. address local teachers and administrators on some particular educational topic. He, or she, has authored a book – for sale at the back - offering some particular research-based methodology, opinion, jargon, philosophy, or whatever, on what constitutes “best practice.” “Follow these steps and you’ll have success,” is the implication. I refer to this type of SD as an American, off-the-shelf product.

I find myself somewhat perplexed as I listen. The ideas in question may be research-based but usually fall short of being researched in a scientific, clinical sense. The speaker is often rhetorically gifted and with the style of a “motivational speaker.” She, or he, seems to keep the crowd entertained even though at times I feel as if I am being entertained or manipulated in the same way one may find one’s self entertained or manipulated by an infomercial.

Unfortunately, the message contained in these sessions often focuses too narrowly on what constitutes success in the classroom, i.e., improving high-stakes standardized test scores. Could it be that the high-stakes game of No Child Left Behind, with its focus on improving test scores, has also increased the demand for these staff-development “gurus” across America, and ensured that no consulting company will be left without an eager and anxious consumer?

My critical sensibilities really start tingling when, on occasion, there may even be disparaging references to teachers as being naysayers, laggards, resistant to change and, therefore, problematical . The implication here is that if implementation of a certain initiative proves difficult or less-than-successful, it’s not because of a problem inherent in the plan, or a mismatch of plan to problem; the problem is those teachers of little faith.

To go back to the complaint of our teacher from NYC, there’s the overall cost to consider. Not long ago, I attended a two day assembly for which the tuition was several hundred dollars. Without commenting on the effectiveness of the sessions, what struck me, as I looked around at the hundreds of teachers and administrators from a number of provinces, was the substantial – if not staggering - amount of money that that must be flowing from public education accounts into the coffers of these American consulting companies.

This particular consulting company in question advertises dozens of conferences throughout the United States and Canada each year. With the vast amounts of public education dollars going to these ventures one must ask, are we getting an educational bang for our educational buck? Is it good practice to be using scarce public dollars to fill the coffers of some private, for profit, corporation? Are we receiving significant, on-going benefits or simply crossing PD off the to-do list? Is it a clear vision of professional development that guides these endeavours? The financial cost may be relatively easy to calculate but what of the opportunity cost, i.e., in what fruitful pursuit could teachers be involved if they were not compelled to participate in these other activities?

There may be a better approach to planning and implementing quality, staff development and instilling positive educational change. I call upon another source:

“Change takes root when grown from local seeds planted by those who know the soil, the sky and the prevailing winds. Programs and strategies grown elsewhere usually flounder and founder.” (McKenzie, J. Identifying and Grooming the Pioneers,1998)

Do we really need to go south of the border for our answers? The American context is not necessarily our context? Why would we not choose advice, guidance and leadership from those who understand our local context?

Another article in this issue discusses what can occur when home-grown knowledge and expertise is employed in helping teachers to develop and improve in their practice.

(I'll post the companion article to this, "Professional Development as a Home-grown Product," in the near future.)

Do You Read the ATA News?

The ATA News is a must-read for Alberta teachers! It is the primary vehicle by which the Alberta Teachers' Association communicates with its members. Unfortunately, a large number of teachers are unaware of its content and are not regular readers.

The editorial, by Dennis Theobold, is always informative and insightful; sometimes hard hitting, sometimes whimsical. The Q&A, by Dr. Gordon Thomas, provides information about professional conduct, teachers' contracts, Association policy, and a host of other issues.

Teachers, as busy as they are in their daily lives, need to know the bigger picture of public education and their profession and to keep abreast of the changes that are occuring in their professional environment. Only then can they speak authoritatively when advocating for public education.

Reading the ATA News regularly, and on occasion even discussing what one reads with colleagues, is an effective way of staying-in-the-loop and growing one's professionalism.