Maranyundo School

March 18, 2015

Educator Talk is Global

Thursday was a day for many meetings; with Sister Juvenal, Dean Joseph, teachers we had observed during the week, and with our own Boston team. It is so gratifying to share the work we have done with our hosts, to identify the strengths that are so apparent, and to share in real dialogue the future directions in which Sr Juvenal and her faculty want to go. As we have learned in the Maranyundo Initiative, as well as in or own US education reform efforts, the central component that makes partnerships work to improve something as complex as education for young people must be direct and thoughtful communication. We have it here!

After our individual meetings were over, we met with the entire faculty of the school. They came to the meeting having completed a brief survey. We asked them what they enjoyed most about teaching their subject area. We asked them what was most challenging for them in teaching. Finally, we asked them to think about what resources would help them create the ideal classroom. Our goal for ourselves was to learn more about each teacher and what this faculty cares about, individually and collectively. Our goal for the teachers was to share ideas about resources that will help them develop as educators.

The Do Now of our meeting asked them to share with a partner their vision of the ideal classroom. Wow! Did they get right to work on that idea! They enthusiastically shared with one another and a few folks volunteered their “dream classroom.” “When students are participating,” “When  I am teaching what I know best,” “When a student tells me I have helped them to learn something new.” “When technology works.” Then the faculty met in their planning groups (Humanities, Math & Science, Languages) to share their responses to the survey questions. Again, their conversations were animated, supportive, honest.

We came back together as a large group and each group presented their conversation. Using the blackboard, they filled the spaces with real teacher talk about what they like best. The discussed what is challenging about teaching in a world of standards and national exams, global outreach and jobs that require increasingly complex problem solving skills and deep thinking across the disciplines. The next steps they would like to take included learning more about their subject area, having more time to group students and have them work on project teams, and keeping students (and teachers!) alert for the long day that is necessary to fit in so many subjects and labs at the school.

Jen took careful notes of the conversations that we will send to each teacher. Our goal was to model the kinds of student-centered pedagogy that is so confusing to contemplate when your own education has been stand and deliver “filling the empty vessel.” (Not to mention in another language than the one you are currently teaching in!) Marian, Jane and I enjoyed being “teachers” to these thoughtful, eager “students” and closed the session by reviewing whether or not we all had met our goals. Sister Juvenal closed the meeting by reflecting on how much she felt had been accomplished and how thoughtful the teachers had been in sharing their ideas.

It is always amazing to me that when you get a group of teachers together, regardless of age, years of teaching, grades and content areas taught the conversation is vital, thoughtful, interesting. Across cultures and languages, national standards and economic realties, teachers share a respect for learning, a desire to deepen their own content knowledge. They identify successful practice as practice that gives students a chance to experience the satisfaction of problem solving, learning new ideas, identifying new questions. In the global village of our current century we need to have these teacher conversations that help educators cross the boundaries of cultures, disciplines, language. Meetings like our workshop with the Maranyundo faculty is an example of how much we have to learn from one another and how much of that learning we can pass on to our students! Teacher talk is universal. Let’s keep talking.