GATHERING GOODS: TO INSPIRE EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATORS AND TO ENSURE EXCELLENCE IN

STUDENTS

Ms. Dijane LynchAugust 24, 2015

OUTLINE FOR TODAY’S PLC• Description of Participants• Summary of Activity: “Multicultural Me”• Discussion and Responses With Peers• Characteristics of Critical Thinkers• Critical Thinking Questions to Explore• Benefits of Information from the Exercise • Possibilities for Sharing with Students• Conclusion

Description of Participants

The type of teacher in attendance today is varied. Some of us are tenured and valued, some are new and untried. We all belong here because everyone can improve instructional delivery in the classroom.

When new teachers join our team, we customarily organize Professional Learning Community (PLC) events to inspire staff collaboration towards improving the results of our efforts.

Teacher development refers to the ongoing professional growth of teachers, particularly that which takes place after their initial training (Thornbury, 2006).

Our goal is to establish and implement workable solutions to improve operational expertise, to enhance the accomplishments of our students, and to become a constructive and cohesive force.

As a team, our goal is to formulate principles that can be embedded and thereafter sustained in school protocol (DuFour, 2004).

Description and summary of “Multicultural Me” Activity

We can probably all identify some associations that we engage in with various groups at different times. As individuals, we appear to others in a relatively limited way: We cannot see each other’s friends and relatives. We may not yet know the full extent or breadth of our colleagues’ alliances. Therefore, our perspective of others is limited.

In today’s activity, we will be disclosing some features of this heretofore private information. If participants will please write their names inside a circle in the center of a sheet of paper. Then, in circles drawn off of that circle, please briefly share the types of groups with which you identify.

In connection with the information noted in each of the outer circles, and in the interest of enlightening your colleagues, please share any details regarding your development or difficulty in association with your presence or membership in a given group. Also, please include any of your personal, social revelations (if you care to do so) that have transformed you as a result of being in those groups.

Discussion/Responses with Peers• 1. It is fair to acknowledge a few generalizations about ourselves

and the students in our schools, namely, they want to learn and we must ensure that they do.

• 2. Enthusiasm dwindles into confusion over controversial topics, and we must alleviate the effects of disagreements among professional staff.

• 3. In a cycle of recurring failure, realistic reforms and idealistic plans become tangled and then become ineffectual, until another positive generation of theories develops, and the process cycles again.

• 4. A viable solution is simple: Hire an abundance of teachers who possess multicultural sensitivity and interest in professional development.

Several Characteristics of Critical Thinkers —A Super-streamlined Conception

• …maintains an open-mind • …desires to be well-informed• …ascertains whether information is credible• …identifies assumptions and preconceptions• …asks appropriate questions for clarification• …formulates plausible hypotheses• …draws conclusions with caution• …develops and defends reasonable positions

Critical Questions

1. Does every suggestion become trite before it can become an instrument for change?

2. Is the status quo permanent?3. Has the power of a catalyst become obsolete?4. Has active implementation been replaced by static

theories?5. Who first found it necessary to differentiate between

teaching and learning?6. Should we still be asking what we want students to

learn?7. Is it so difficult to gauge whether a student has

learned something?8. Are we capable of teaching children how to handle

life, to care about education, and to construct meaning for themselves?

9. Is there any consensus about what constitutes academic fundamentals?

Instructors and participants’ improved professionalism

Stud

ents

’ acc

ompl

ishm

ents

and

goa

ls

Assumptions about other

cultures may tragically be inaccurate; therefore, it is advisable to become

familiar with diversity, and

to enjoy learning new things about

other cultures.

We have to give students

honest descriptions of the future that are, at least,

feasible, if not concrete. We

cannot tell them that

professions in the future do not presently exist because

such a declaration is too abstract.

Working Toward Future MasteryParticipants may find that the PLC activity is a bit

challenging; therefore, there will be a break

after filling in the circles, after peers’

discussion, after deliberating upon

the selected questions, and prior to sharing

visions of possible means for sharing

results with students.

Possibilities for Sharing with Students

• One of the interesting aspects of the activity introduced in this PLC is the fact that an “age appropriate” limitation does not apply. It can be developed for any group of people, whether it is educators, students, or parents.

• In many ways, we are stumbling around discussing cultural diversity, but we are overlooking cultural similarities, which, in actuality, bridge divisions better than differences do.

• We are all the same in more ways than we are different, and we should be reinforcing the teaching of this truth among ourselves and teaching it to our children and students.

THANK YOU. THIS CONCLUDES THE PRESENTATION. IT HAS DEFINITELY BEEN A PLEASURE “GATHERING GOODS,” INSPIRING

UNITY, FOSTERING EXCELLENCE IN OUR PROFESSION, AND BUILDING OPTIMISM

ABOUT WELCOMING AND INSTRUCTING OUR STUDENTS.

References

Breiseth, L., Robertson, K., Lafond, S. (2011). A guide for engaging ELL families: Twenty strategies

for school leaders, Colorin ColoradoDu Four, R. (2004). What is a professional community? Schools as Learning Communities, vol. 61, issue 8, ASCD.Ennis, R. (2012). Definition of critical thinking: Reasonable reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do.Thornbury, S. (2006). An A-Z of ELT: Dictionary of terms and concepts, Macmillan Books for teachers.