Do you feel safe?
One of the big ideas of the Professional Learning Community process is that teachers must work collaboratively for all students to learn at high levels. Good collaboration means sharing best practices and eliminating poor practices. It eliminates the educational lottery by guaranteeing that students receive the same curriculum regardless of who is teaching. It promotes clarity and consistency of learning targets through collaborative grading. All of this requires that teachers put their data and practices on the table.
Are you safe to do this?
Educational leaders must create a culture where sharing is safe. Today's problem is that poor teacher evaluation systems can create a climate of competition rather than collaboration. Good leaders must fight against competition on two fronts. On the policy front, leaders must engage in the evaluation debate to steer policymakers towards a cooperative model. On the compliance front, leaders must do whatever they can to implement mandatory evaluation systems in a way that minimizes competition.
Simon Sinek might go so far as to say that the competitive model is, by definition, poor leadership. If you are a PLC advocate, you almost certainly agree. Share Sinek's video with everyone you can. The education of our youth is at stake.
http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_why_good_leaders_make_you_feel_safe
No comments:
Post a Comment