February 24, 2012
We love teachers as much as we love students (which is a LOT!) Recently, while working with a group of beginning teachers, the conversation turned to the many "silver bullet" programs being mandated. We sat back in awe as we listened to these young and energetic new professionals participate in the discussion, grappling with wanting to please their leaders, wondering whether or not they could disagree when they had a feeling the mandates weren't right for their students and how to know what really is best for kids.
This rich conversation not only found us having an incredible amount of respect for these teachers, it also brought us back to our own similar questions many years ago and having the same conversation with our friend and mentor, Margaret Mooney. It was Margaret who told us that if you don't have a belief system of your own, you won't know how to discern what is truly of value for children. A belief system is what we use to filter every new thing that comes our way so we can decide what should be disregarded.
But how do we develop our own belief system? Finding what really works as we teach children is one part. Margaret also pushed us to figure out what really makes the difference in our instruction by becoming voracious readers of research; true, independent research, not that which is funded by programs or initiatives.
"So where do we turn?", the group of young teachers asked. What an excellent question. Besides devouring the rich number of books available by independent researchers, we are delighted about the International Reading Association's new initiative creating a New Literacy Research Panel chaired by P. David Pearson. Along with IRA, there are many other wonderful professional groups, some of these professional groups are content area specific, while others are general for all teachers. (See links below)
It is such an honor to be working with teachers; the energetic, bright, shiny new ones and the refined by years of experience mentors who continue to learn and get better at their craft. We delight in the fact that they, like you all, are thinkers, constantly questioning best practice, reading research, and working alongside each other in pursuit of what best serves our children. A Few Professional Groups:
International Reading Association (IRA)
Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)
National Association for Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
National Council of Teachers for Math (NCTM)
National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)
National Science Teachers Association (NSTA)
Education Week
ASCD (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development)
Speaking of professional affiliations, we were honored to have a podcast posted this week on IRA's ENGAGE. Check it out!