One of the most distinctive features of independent schools should be the ability to change, and to lead education into new and exciting frontiers. One might ask why, then, that so many independent schools operate in much the same way they did thirty, forty, or even more years ago. Public school education changes at a rate roughly equivalent to the time it takes to turn a lump of coal into a diamond - an issue that is often not the fault of the educators who are at the mercy of bureaucracies that do not impact independent schools. The reasons behind independent schools not changing are more complex - partly human nature, partly the limitations that success sometimes put on our imaginations.
I read recently that married people weigh on average about 15 percent more than their single counterparts of the same age. Speculation of the author was that marriage and its familiarity breeds complacency. The same might be said of schools that experience some success and establish familiar patterns. The familiarity of those patterns, and the comfort of that past success can dangerously obscure visions of positive change. A few years ago, author Jim Collins famously wrote that " Good is the enemy of great...". So often that truism can be applied to schools which rely on past successes to the extent that they become barriers to positive, meaningful improvement.
In order to change, the overweight married couple needs to first look in a mirror to recognize that they may have let heir bodies go a little bit. A few more cookies at Christmas, a few too many fast food meals, and too few hours in the gym, and complacency begets an unflattering result. The same is true of schools - we must constantly subject ourselves to honest looks in the mirror. Self- reflection distinguishes good schools from great.
At Country Day we are going through a virtual fun house of mirrors right now, examining our school from many angles. We are undergoing a curriculum alignment we have called " Five in, Five out" designed to vertically and horizontally align our curriculum by identifying five essential skills a student needs to be successful to begin a course or grade level content area, and five essential skills students should possess on exit from a course or grade level. In this way we are connecting our whole school curriculum, pk-12. In addition we are going through a peer evaluation by the Independent School Association of Central States (ISACS) which has caused us to look at all of our practices, and which will result in a peer report that evaluates our school. We have just closed an engagement survey of our faculty and staff to identify strengths and opportunities in our school community, and are in the process of developing our new teacher evaluation model. In short, we are putting every aspect of our school in front of the mirror, and examining for flaws. Most of our bodies could not hold up to that level of scrutiny...
DCDS intends to continue to be a leader not only in the independent school world, but in a continuous effort to be at the cutting edge of educational best practice. That kind of commitment requires constant self- reflection, and visionary approaches to stave off complacency. We are up to the challenge - just takes a little looking in the mirror...
No comments:
Post a Comment