I attended a wonderful and eclectic wedding this weekend. The invitation and the ceremony were nontraditional, tailored by the bride and groom to make their day special. This morning I was reflecting on the wedding and showing some colleagues the invitation and program. As I did so, I began to see some parallels to the teaching profession.
There is a school of thought that “teaching is an art,” and teachers therefore need to be able to teach in the ways that they are most comfortable. What does that say about standards for both teacher and student learning? What does this mean to students when a recent report indicated that 70% of U.S. jobs currently require “specialized knowledge and skills,” as opposed to only 5% in the early 1900s? (Quoted in Linda Darling-Hammond’s new book, “The Flat World and Education: How America’s Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future”)
Stop, I said to myself. I’m turning this into an “either/or” argument, rather than looking at it as a “both/and” opportunity.
Looking back to the wedding, there was a lot of creativity and individualization involved. For example, there were bridesmaids, but they wore whatever they wanted to wear; there was music, but not what is ordinarily played at traditional weddings. But, there were also some constants. There was a minister, the mothers of the brides were escorted into the garden, vows and rings were exchanged, and the legal requirements were met.
The wedding was quite artful, but it still had several features that exist in every wedding. So, to extend the analogy, I believe that there can be art to teaching within the framework of teacher and learning standards.
Richard Elmore of Harvard’s Graduate School of Education contends that “professionals are people who share a common practice, not people whose practices are determined by taste and style.” He states further that “the only way to improve your practice is to allow yourself to think that your practice is not who you are. It is, instead a way of expressing your current understanding of your work, your knowledge about the work, and your beliefs about what is important in the work.” (excerpted from “Instructional Rounds in Education: A Network Approach to Improving Teaching and Learning”, p. 160).
Elmore suggests five principles to ensure a common teaching practice:
- We learn to do the work by doing the work, reflecting on the work, and critiquing the work.
- Separate the person from the practice.
- Learning is an individual and a collective activity.
- Trust enhances individual and collective learning.
- Learning enhances individual and collective efficacy.
So, like the wedding, art can enter into the teaching profession within the framework of standards and best practice. I’m interested in learning your response to my thinking. Does this resonate with you? Can you think of another analogy?
Cathy Gassenheimer is A+’s executive vice president for the A+ Best Practices Center.
