THE PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL REQUIRED
What do teachers need to know and be able to do to bring all our students to high levels of achievement? The ten jobs of teaching, listed in Table 1.1 and explained in separate chapters of this book, represent just a sample of the com-
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Table 1.1 Ten Jobs of Teaching
1. Make sure all students have to explain their thinking frequently in class by talking, writing, or interacting, in some way, in response to the ideas or skills in each lesson.
2. Make sure you have a way of knowing (i.e., some evidence) at the end of the lesson what each of the students has learned or can do relative to the objective.
3. Make sure the students have exemplars of good work to model and that they receive detailed in- formation/feedback, frequently, about how they are doing relative to the learning targets.
4. Make sure the examples, illustrations, and materials used to make new ideas accessible to students are drawn from the best craft knowledge of the field and deepened by strategies from cognitive science like “modeling thinking aloud” and “mental imagery.”
5. Work actively to make it safe for students to make mistakes and learn from them.
6. Work actively to communicate to students your belief that they are able, that ability can be in- creased, and that effective effort, the most significant determinant of achievement, can be learned.
7. Make sure students feel known and valued, and have some ownership and choices in how the business of classroom life proceeds.
8. Make sure the rules and consequences are clearly understood by students and facilitate learn- ing. Respond promptly with the “body language of meaning business” when students are off task (Jones, 2013). Ensure that backup management structures for routines, procedures, and arrange- ments of space and time are clearly understood by the students and facilitate learning.
9. Make sure the learning objective for the lesson/unit is appropriate, clearly thought out, and that the students can say what it is with understanding. Draw on a diagnostic analysis of the gaps in students’ prior knowledge to make sure the objective of the day is the most important one for these students.
10. Make sure each night that student products or other forms of student work are analyzed to focus detailed lesson planning and reteaching for the next day. Align learning experiences logically with objectives, and plan how to stitch those learning experiences together with questions, cues, and directions that guide student cognition and stimulate higher-level thinking for all, not just some, students.
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These are known, validated elements of successful teaching and learning in the classroom.
plex and sophisticated skill sets required for successful teaching. These are not options. They are not choices according to style. They are bottom-line essen- tials needed by every teacher. These are known, validated elements of success- ful teaching and learning in the classroom. They are also not easy to do. They require deep, sophisticated knowledge to carry out well; far more than we ac- knowledge in either our requirements to enter teaching or our support systems for teachers once they are employed. Each job can be accomplished by drawing on known repertoires of skills.
Wonderful schools in the most challenging circumstances can be found all over the country in any year, though there are far too few of them. Their examples, however, never seem to generalize to the schools around them. Typically, they don’t last more than a decade before declining. Why is this? School institu- tions with excellent practice do not have staying power because the knowledge and expertise behind those practices does not carry forward to those who suc- ceed the reformers. It is not built into the personnel systems that produce and support the teachers and leaders who succeed the inspired and dedicated people who make the initial transformations happen. To learn more about how to restructure the personnel system see John Adams’ Promise (Saphier, 2005) and “Growing Lilies in the Desert,” both available on The Skillful Teacher web- site at www.RBTeach.com/TST7.
If we are serious about the promises of democracy and freedom, then we owe every child a chance at a good life through education. It is time to unite around this missing leg of education reform and find a way to build professional knowl- edge into every stage of the teacher and leader development process. This book is designed to make clear and accessible, with detailed examples, the full range and complexity of this knowledge base for
p teachers who want to improve their own practice,
p coaches who want to help teachers solve students’ learning problems,
p administrators who want to be sure they are looking for the most important aspects of good teaching to inform their feedback,
p central office leaders who want to design systems for continuous improvement, and
p policy makers who want resources aimed at the key lever—skillful teaching.
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CHAPTER QUICK GUIDE
Seven Kinds of Professional Knowledge Central to High-Expertise Teaching:
1. Generic Pedagogy (The Skillful Teacher)
2. Content-Specific Pedagogy
3. Content Analysis
4. Academic Discipline
5. Individual Differences in Learners
6. Behavior of Individuals in Effective Organizations
7. Effective Communications with Family and Community
Ten Jobs of Teaching (Table 1.1):
p Represent a sample of the complex and sophisticated skill sets required for successful teaching.
p They are known, validated elements of successful teaching and learning in the classroom.
p They are not easy to do.
p They require deep, sophisticated knowledge to carry out well.
2. The Skillful Teacher Framework
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THE SKILLFUL TEACHER | FRAMEWORK
The Skillful Teacher Framework
Skillful Teachers are made, not born.The Skillful Teacher Framework is different from other frameworks. First, it is based on a theory of knowledge grounded in sound epistemology (Polanyi, 1966). Second, it is practical and specific. It uses numerous
classroom examples and plain language, without jargon, to spell out the de- tails of what a skill looks like and sounds like. Third, it is written to assist in classroom problem-solving and asserts that successful teaching is inherently problem-solving and decision-making from repertoires. Fourth, it supports building strong “Adult Professional Culture” based on constant learning and non-defensive examination of practice in relation to student learning. Finally, it is inclusive. Teaching skill is defined to include anything a person does that influences the probability of intended learning.