UCLA SMP EdNews, November/December 2005

As you may have noticed, UCLA SMP EdNews has been on hiatus for the past two months. During this time, we have been conducting several Classroom Walk-Throughs Institutes in New England schools, as well as learning strategies and ideas from our new East Coast colleagues. We thank you for your patience during this time.

by Barbara Knight, UCLA SMP Faculty

To teach in a manner that respects and cares for the souls of our
students is essential if we are to provide the necessary
conditions where learning can most deeply and intimately begin.
—Bell Hooks, Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom

All indications are that the nation has redefined the job of a teacher from one who teaches to one who ensures that students learn. This shifts the focus from the academic content to the student who is acquiring the content. Centering our attention on the learner means we care not only whether the student learns, but also how he/she learns. This culture of caring, when taken seriously and when we apply all we know about how learning occurs, guarantees that all students achieve. It also is much harder to do and puts much more responsibility and accountability on teachers. In the last issue of EdNews, UCLA SMP Faculty member, Jeanie Riddell, pointed out that collaboration is a powerful tool for today’s teachers—sharing the work and learning from each other. Teaching is now too big a job to do alone.

We will focus our discussion of a "culture of caring" on three key components:

When we describe a culture of caring, we mean teachers caring for students in ways that convey high expectations and the support to reach those goals. This definition does not mean kindness that makes allowances for less and waters down rigorous learning out of sympathy for a student’s lack of background. This kind of lowered expectation is a sort of veiled racism. Instead, we ask: what must one do to scaffold the learning so that all students can grasp complex, multi-faceted, relevant ideas? A culture of caring can be tough teachers demanding excellence and providing support. It also means teachers who take the time to get to know students well. Ted Sizer based his reform effort, the Coalition of Essential Schools, on the premise that we cannot teach students well unless we know them well. A good place to start is asking the students what helps them learn better, and then really listening to what they say.

What would need to change in your professional world in order for you to know your students well?
What can you do now to gain knowledge of your students and how they learn?
What are you doing with the information you already hold about your students?
How does that data inform what you do?

A culture of caring also means teachers caring for each other professionally, being willing to work together to tackle complex problems, and being willing to share our work, to give and receive feedback to better reach our shared goals. This is much more than sharing pot-luck dinners or having a beer together on Friday afternoon. Quoting the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, “Education is, of course, about learning, and adults as well as children need to learn continually. Research has shown that student achievement increases when educators participate in ongoing, significant professional learning.” One goal of SMP’s Critical Friends Institute is to “…engage in ongoing inquiry, reflection, and construction of knowledge” about teaching and learning.

Linda Darling-Hammond writes, “A high-quality education starts with relationships.” How much do relationships matter? Consider: How well are you known by your supervising administrator? What difference does it make that the person evaluating you knows you well? Who can you go to when you run into a problem? Do you have an advocate at work who knows you well, cares about you, and has the resources to assist you when you need help? Hopefully, you can answer these questions quickly and positively. If we posed the same questions to our students, especially our high school students, what kind of responses would we get? “I cannot learn from you unless you accept me and find value in me for who and what I am,” comments a student quoted in Beverly Tatum’s Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race.

Lastly, how do we build a culture of caring that pushes students to make connections to the curriculum, that ensures that students care about what they are learning? From her years as principal at an exemplary high school in New York, Deborah Meier reached the conclusion that a class should offer “a rich and interesting curriculum full of powerful ideas and experiences aimed at inspiring its students with the desire to know more, a curriculum that sustains students’ natural drive to make sense of the world and trusts in their capacity to have an impact upon it.” Any subject we offer can be made intellectually challenging, can be linked to students’ lives and interest, can involve “doing” the subject rather than just reading and reciting the subject, can be assessed in ways that mirror real-world measurements. However, this kind of teaching is hard and takes many good minds working together. This takes us back to collaboration. Being a mediocre teacher is easy to do alone; being a good teacher who expands possibilities for all students and who keeps on learning him/herself demands collaboration.

What would need to happen in your classroom and your school in order to reflect a culture of caring?
Where do you see evidence of such a culture?
How can you nurture those areas to grow and take over the predominant culture
that lets us fail students?

While we don’t have all the conditions we would like for creating a culture of caring, we do have the power to make some changes in our own sphere of influence that moves us closer to a culture of caring. Let Gandhi lead you: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

Below are links to some of the people and ideas mentioned in this month's issue. These resources explore some of the many factors which impact a "culture of caring":

• Darling-Hammond, Linda (2002). Redesigning Schools – What Matters and What Works. School Redesign Network at Stanford University. (This book, subtitled "Ten Features of Effective Design," can be downloaded from this site as a PDF file—Adobe Reader required.)

For this month’s topic:

"How have Small Learning Communities made an impact in your school community?"

We invite you to share your stories.  Please click here to add your responses to this month's Combined Brainpower.  We look forward to sharing your thoughts in future issues of EdNews.

We are pleased to welcome the newest members of the UCLA SMP family:

Gwendolyn Kirkland joined the UCLA SMP faculty in October 2005. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration, a Master’s degree in Educational Administration, and an administrative credential. As a first year teacher, Gwen was San Diego City Schools’ candidate for the state Sally Mae 1st Class Teacher award. Her experience includes service in elementary, middle, and high schools in various capacities, master and resource teacher, Urban Systemic Initiative key teacher, peer coach/staff developer, vice principal, and Literacy Administrator. As a literacy administrator, Gwen planned, coordinated, and evaluated curriculum and professional staff development. She also provided training, coaching and support for staff in effective research-based literacy approaches, theories, strategies, and methods of instruction. Gwen was a national presenter for Empowered Discipline and she taught a university level course for San Diego State University on balanced literacy and culturally relevant teaching. Currently, she is researching culturally relevant pedagogy and its centrality in the education arena for improving student achievement.

Eri Tsujii is a graduate of UCLA, having received her bachelor’s degree in communication studies and minored in public policy. As an undergraduate, Eri worked closely with the UCLA Community Service Commission and the Little Tokyo Service Center as a tutor and director of the Casa Heiwa Angelina Mentorship Program. Eri joined UCLA SMP as a Program Coordinator in August 2005. She supports the organization by helping to plan and coordinate the UCLA SMP professional development training events for various school districts. Prior to joining UCLA SMP, Eri decided to branch out into the entertainment industry, but discovered that her true passion lies in education. She is very excited to joining the SMP family and is grateful for the opportunity to make positive changes in education.

Julien Kreuze is a Graduate Student Researcher (GSR). He is a Masters student in the Public Policy Department of UCLA’s School of Public Affairs, where his concentration is education policy. He received his BA in political science from Stanford University in 2003, and spent this last summer working for the Independent Analysis Unit at the Los Angeles Unified School District.

In November 2003, UCLA SMP held its second Superintendents' Symposium: "Balanced Leadership: What 30 Years of Research Tells Us About the Effect of Leadership on Student Achievement." Brian McNulty from McREL (Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning) was the keynote speaker, and California State Superintendent of Schools, Jack O’Connell (l-r, with UCLA SMP Executive Director Dan Chernow), made a surprise late morning appearance.

"Our lives begin to end when we become silent about things that matter."
—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

• The "Culture of Caring," Part 2: Advisories

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A nonprofit school reform initiative of the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies and The Anderson School, the UCLA School Management Program (UCLA SMP) is devoted to the sustainable transformation of public schools into learner-centered organizations where all students can achieve at high levels.

UCLA SMP works with educators, administrators, and community members to create well-managed schools, to enhance teacher effectiveness, and to improve student achievement through professional development leading to personal transformation and community building.

Since the program was launched in 1992, UCLA SMP has worked with over 700 schools in districts throughout California.