Hiring and Developing for Agency

About two weeks ago, I met with a work group from my community to talk about hiring and developing the best people to work in a learning environment where the learners have significant agency.  

I got a chance to describe, for the first time publicly, my ideal school schedule and my vision for a "learning studio".  We used these ideas as a frame for the conversation about hiring to support agency.  It was really scary opening my ideas up to this level of scrutiny.  I had no way of knowing how it would be received and whether this would push our thinking forward on hiring and development practices.

The conversation generated so many great ideas and important questions to consider.  The first big takeaway is that TRUST must be granted to everyone in the community for the vision to be realized.  Young people can, and should, be trusted with guiding their own learning, knowing what tools they want to use to demonstrate their learning, determining when they want to go to gym, or to read, what they want to read, who they want to work with, how they share their learning with others... The list can go on and on.

But that same TRUST must be extended to adults in the building who deserve the same opportunity to determine their won path for learning and growth, what tools they will use to demonstrate learning, when they need a break or a prep period, what they want to read, who they work with, how they share their learning...

Hiring the Right People

We expanded our conversation to other important questions:

• What do we value? (Instructional Vision)
• What core values do we want in teachers?
  • Or rather, What do teacher candidates value, and how does that fit into the school's Vision and Mission?
• When do students get involved in the hiring process?  What about families?
• What characteristics do we need in all teachers?

As we discussed teacher hiring, we connected to the powerful work happening in Reggio Emilia schools where educators are more like researchers.  The educators observe and discuss learning with students to see how they acquired new learnings, what their learning process was like, and what conditions they might present to reinforce learning or help students engage in a new learning path.  The educators are essentially learners of learners.  

This reframing of "teacher" -- which we also discussed should include families, community partners, and the students themselves -- then opened a discussion among our group about how to develop teachers into researchers.  How do we help educators learn to listen for those magic moments when a student presents a line of inquiry or a really great question, and then know enough to get out of their way and observe their learning?  How do we help develop educators that, like therapists, know how to ask questions to pull deeper connections from students, to know how to listen and pull information from the student, rather than checking work and tasks against an answer to a questions that has already been determined in advance?

What About Students?

And then there was this gem:  Is there a profile of a successful student and family for this school setting?  What about for families where this setting will not work?

Huh.  There are families where a setting like this might not work.  There are still families that value test scores as a means of access.  There are families that might value traditional or specialized learning settings for a variety of reasons.  It is important to remember that not every community is necessarily right for every family, even though I would like to open the doors of the school to everyone who will commit to living the Vision.

Another question that I am still grappling with is this:  How do students from this learning community transition to a high school that is likely quite different?  Are there suitable high schools to partner with as feeder schools?

The learning that students would take with them from this middle school would prepare them for making smart choices about their high school.  It would be less about the school performance indicators, and more about opportunity and access.  Students and families would be armed with knowledge about what learning path they want to pursue, where they might reach their highest potential considering what they've learned about themselves, and how to ask questions to get answers you are looking for, answers that matter.  I don't want to prepare kids for a school, I want to prepare them for success in any school, to choose the best school for them.  Not necessarily what everyone else might call the "best" high school.  

And really, what is the profile of a successful student in this setting?  That's a deeper conversation I am planning for a future meeting with this team.

Have you thought about what a successful student profile would be for your school?  Your classroom?  What does a graduate look, sound, and feel like from your school or class?