A
school teaches in three ways: by what it teaches, by how it teaches,
and by the kind of place it is.
– Lawrence Downey
The Teaching and Learning Committee, made up of 24 educators,
jointly selected by the superintendent of schools and the president
of NEA-KCK was given the following charge:
- to determine the teaching and learning practices expected
in each classroom in the district
- to base these practices on a study of research and relevant
literature relating to effective teaching and learning
- to plan the process for implementing these practices in every
classroom in the district over the next two to five years beginning
with the 2000-2001 school year
Participants in this collaborative committee included:
- superintendent of schools and president of the teachers'
union serving as ex officio members
- central office administrators
- school improvement facilitators
- elementary and secondary principals
- elementary and secondary teachers
This document is intended for use by schools in the District to
act as a guide while implementing the First Things First (FTF)
framework for whole-school reform. The document elaborates upon
previous descriptions of the two critical features of the FTF framework
most explicitly concerned with changing the quality of teaching
and learning. These include the following: for students, enrich
and diversify opportunities to learn, perform and be recognized;
and, for adults, equip, empower and expect all staff to improve
the quality of instruction. Also, these features are closely aligned
with a third critical feature; i.e., set high clear and fair standards
for student behavior and academic performance. Additionally, it
should be noted that the purpose of this document is to stand in
support of Teaching and Learning Committee's framework.
The committee recognized the strength and diversity
of urban youth in Kansas City, Kansas. All children
bring specific cultural
knowledge, experiences, and strengths with them to school. However,
currently there is a mismatch between the instruction and curriculum
in many schools and the cultural experiences and strengths of
urban students (Williams, 1993). One example is the hidden talent
of many urban learners' sense of practicality, a commitment to
acting on what is real. As one author has noted, urban learners
are "understandably concerned with the reality that they must
survive every day." This vision of teaching the urban learner
must focus on urban children's cultural backgrounds, their unique
strengths and talents, and the importance of tapping into their
intrinsic motivation and effort, which, taken together, fosters
their resilience and likelihood of leading productive, successful
lives. The challenges that teachers face is how to make effective
instructional use of the personal and cultural knowledge of students
while at the same time helping them to reach beyond their own
cultural boundaries (Banks, 1993). Additionally, as a result
of the process, the committee recognized that within the learning
community of educators in the school district there is a need
for continuous study and reflection on best practices on teaching
and learning for all students. Through study of professional
readings, dialogue, and collaboration, the committee identified
three key topics for this document:
- classroom environment
- instruction
- professional learning community
Regardless of race or ethnicity, poor children are much more
likely than nonpoor children to suffer developmental delay and
damage, to drop out of high school, and to give birth during the
teen years.
– Leticia Miranda/Children's Defense
Fund
Ruby Payne (1995)
in her very engaging profile of people in poverty proposes that
all individuals
bring with them
the hidden
rules of the class in which they are raised and that schools operate
from middle class norms that use the rules of the middle class.
Additionally, Delpit (1988) has stated that African American students
are often unfamiliar with school cultural knowledge regarding power
relationships. These norms and rules are never directly taught
in the schools that serve the students and community. Payne also
suggested that for students to be successful we must understand
student rules and explicitly teach the rules that will make them
successful at school and in the world of work. It is also interesting
to note that Payne suggests in order to move from poverty to middle
class, an individual must give up relationships for achievement.
This hypothesis would seem to be supported by the earlier work
of Ogbu (1986) and others in their classic work the "Burden of
Acting White." |
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