One of the best parts of this profession is the constant discourse and new learning around pedagogy and the other experiences that my fellow teachers have had. Today I will be sharing an email that I received from a peer ELL Specialist.
Dear Kirsta,
I am new to the area and I have found that some of the teachers at my new school are resistant to change. They are quite experienced (some have been here for 20+ years), so I know that I can learn a lot from them. How can I share ELL-teaching best practice with them in a way that promotes positive relationships and lasting change?
Whew! Haven’t we all been there, in one way or another? Effective collaboration is certainly built through trusting relationships and real change can only happen, I think, when it follows a set of phases (Initiation -> Implementation -> Institutionalization) over time. Though you might have a great idea or best practice to support ELLs/EBs, I think that with people resistant to change, you will need the buy-in from Admin as well. They would be able to give you time at a staff meeting in order to present and begin initiation of your idea. “To plan an innovation, leaders define the results in terms of student success and adapt existing processes to support the innovation” (Michael Fullan, The New Meaning of Educational Change, 2007). This means that you need to find out what teachers are doing now, so that the existing process can be adapted. Open communication, patience and persistence, and the slow build of trusting relationships. I know this is challenging in the face of temporary and short term contracts, itinerant teaching, and oh yes - a global pandemic. Be patient, dear reader, and lead with empathy and a sense of comradery.
Kirsta
Dear Kirsta,
I am new to the area and I have found that some of the teachers at my new school are resistant to change. They are quite experienced (some have been here for 20+ years), so I know that I can learn a lot from them. How can I share ELL-teaching best practice with them in a way that promotes positive relationships and lasting change?
Whew! Haven’t we all been there, in one way or another? Effective collaboration is certainly built through trusting relationships and real change can only happen, I think, when it follows a set of phases (Initiation -> Implementation -> Institutionalization) over time. Though you might have a great idea or best practice to support ELLs/EBs, I think that with people resistant to change, you will need the buy-in from Admin as well. They would be able to give you time at a staff meeting in order to present and begin initiation of your idea. “To plan an innovation, leaders define the results in terms of student success and adapt existing processes to support the innovation” (Michael Fullan, The New Meaning of Educational Change, 2007). This means that you need to find out what teachers are doing now, so that the existing process can be adapted. Open communication, patience and persistence, and the slow build of trusting relationships. I know this is challenging in the face of temporary and short term contracts, itinerant teaching, and oh yes - a global pandemic. Be patient, dear reader, and lead with empathy and a sense of comradery.
Kirsta