The Choice To Enrich

In my master class we are currently reading " Coming Even Cleaner About Organizational Change" by Jerry L. Patterson. We are reading that during cultural changes that we must be applying to our schools that we need to remember the people as an administrator. Patterson created four sections that deal with strengthening resilience in others: Caring, Clarity, Choice, and Hope. (P102/103; Fig 5.1) Patterson asks questions we, as administrators should ask as the transformation happens.

In the beginning or as Patterson states, the "Endings and Loss" period we need to develop a plan how we can take the past with us into the future and that the we must know that not everyone will choose to take this ride with us and we must respect that. During the "Tweener Time" we must ask individuals to take risks and to stop thinking about what/who was lost. We must think about how we can discover new ways of doing things. Lastly during the "New Horizons" Era, which is where we want to end up we must ensure that people have a voice in their roles. We must choose to enrich.

Stevens Elementary School in Seattle has long tapped into a corps of local professionals in the arts, math, and history as a way of enriching the curriculum and engaging students in activities that bring the content to life.

They made a choice to enrich. I do not know the school, and maybe far off here, but I am sure there was complaints when the idea of having local figures come in to talk about certain topics. I can see it now:

Principal: Ok, We are in Seattle, there are many individuals in the 5 mile radius around the school that could give the students a perspective they might not have thought about.

Teacher 1: So your saying, we don't know our matieral good enough.
Teacher 2: Are we still going get paid? Do we need to pay for these speakers?

Principal: No, no, no. I believe in your talents and believe this will just enrich your lessons even more. Give the students a real life view on what you are discussing.

Teacher 1: Yea, were not good enough. I get it.

Principal: I figure that Mr. Jones that lives down the street, well he is a carpenter with a background in engineering and he could help students to test a homemade apple launcher to learn about trajectory.

Teacher 3: That would be fun, but we aren't getting paid to have fun, what about NCLB? We need to raise our test scores.

Teacher 2: What about the lawsuit when the homemade apple launcher backfires and hits a kid in the face?

and so on. I am sure that is not how this school reacted, but I can see some schools acting like this. Some teachers believe they are the "Masters of the Universe" and they don't need backup.

With the internet, your choice to enrich does not have to be limited to your neighborhood. Just in the past year I have made many connections with educators across the globe. Lutheran Teachers and Public School Educators. The possiblities are endless, if you choose to Enrich! Last month I posted a fast thought response on an article from The Fischbowl about collaboration. You will collaborate if you choose to Enrich!

I have been finding resistence to the idea of Enriching our students more by our Day School Board. I know they have the best intentions for the school, but what they fail to realize I have the best intentions for the students. They want to make sure the flow from 2nd to 3rd and then 3rd to 4th meshes. I what to make sure that when my students leave my classroom, they know how to think. They know how to create and evaluate. I want my students to take risks. If they fail, that is ok. Lets learn something that will make the next time a more sucessful outcome. We are by far too wrap around titles or words and what they mean to see clearly what they can do for our school. They do not see that being a 21st Century School is making a choice to Enrich! They see it as playing with toys. They see it as a machine doing all the work. They do not see the evaluating and analyzing skills that would be needed for a student to write their own blog. They as Patterson calls it, stuck in "Endings and Loss" not ready to give up the past.

The fears come from past risks. Risks that did not turn out well. Risks that were masked as 21st Century Skills and Learning. Risks that can shape the enrichment skills of us all. There is the saying Loved or Hated, you are known. I say wether the tool fails or succeed, you learn. I choose to Enrich, do you?

My son is in pre-school, which is part of my school. Everyday my son plays, Everyday my son Sings, Everyday my son Dances, Everyday my son paints, Everyday my son creates, EVERYDAY MY SON IS ENRICHED! Why do pre school teachers know how it should be done, but as soon as the focus is shifted to elementary school, Lectures, Worksheets, Memorize, Drill and Kill is the only way to go? LET US ENRICH OUR STUDENTS! Please let me know how you enrich your students learning everyday!



Post is inspired by http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/02/04/20visiting.h28.html?tmp=153707628 and recent email conversations with my Day School Board
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/arvindgrover/3223494845/, http://www.flickr.com/photos/torres21/2449366035/