Guest Post from Sam Chaltain and Kirsten Olson

Here is a great response from Deanna Burney following our conversation with Sam Chaltain and Kirsten Olson during #engchat:

Kirsten -- In response to the questions you and Sam posted:

I remember in my first principalship reading Seymour Sarason's book "The Predictable Failure of School Reform" , Chapter 8:  For Whom Do Schools Exist?  Sarason argues that if we want schools to be places of academic rigor and inquiry for kids, that we have to create these conditions of learning for the adults so that they can create these conditions for our youth.   The big ideas that guide adult learning are those that cause us to question practices, expectations, and beliefs, in order to build a professional environment with a strong normative culture. Before you even begin the conversation with our children, you must face each other as adults, and ask, Are you prepared to make your practice public? Are you prepared to never lower your expectations for what students can know and do, even if it means changing the way you work; the way you interact with your peers; the way you yourself were taught? Do you believe that given not an ounce more in terms of time or resources , save for what you already have, that you can make a profound difference in the lives of your students? These are the questions we need to be asking. Because when the very first “big” question we ask of students elicits no reply, or an undesired reply, what will you do? Because if you see your relationship with your students as a form of contract – one in which the student has met her obligations, paid in full so to speak, up front – how will you fulfill your side of the agreement? The relationships and conversations we have as adults must have empathy for the learner – view learning from the point of view of the student – and they must start from a position that assumes the student has every gift in the world – perseverance, self-belief, and courage – and that we, by contrast, are solely responsible and accountable for the learning of every child. If our students have not learned, we have not taught, no matter what questions we ask of them.  Hugs,  Deanna

If schools are to justify their claim to kids lives morally--on the order of 16,000 compulsory hours between kindergarten and 12th grade--we think students must be in educational environments that engage them in big, fundamental, complex questions.  We're of the view that many school environments trivialize and squander precious moments between adults and children, and between students, and fail to honor this moral contract.  We believe the best English teachers raise big questions students care about.    

What are the big questions you raise your instruction?  How?

Do you perceive the contract between you and students a moral one?

What are the constraints to honoring the moral contract between you and your students, in your current educational environment?

How have networked learning environments helped you become an initiator of important questions?

We look forward to getting into all this on Monday night, Sept. 26 at 7 pm!

Sam Chaltain

Kirsten Olson