This week, I am experiencing the other side of the charter school discussion. DDES has flown its staff to a conference out of town for three days, so I spent Monday morning interning at Whittier ECE-8. And let me tell you, it's a different playing field.
While DDES teachers were send to a conference for professional development, the second grade teacher I worked with at Whittier was scrambling to make up for her absent TA, who was out on jury duty. I ended up leading two reading group sessions, making copies of materials for the next lesson, and reading aloud to the class while the teacher monitored behavior. It was an incredible learning experience, and I probably was given more responsibilities in one day at Whittier than my entire week at DDES, but it sparked some critical thinking.
DDES, although it is a public school, does have more flexibility with where its funding comes from and how to manage its budget. This allows for the utilization of certain resources that traditional public schools don't have the autonomy to access. However, I do wonder to what extent being defined as a "charter" or "innovation" school really helps a school succeed. For example, my classroom at DDES uses desk a fraction of the amount as my classroom at Whittier; instead, students sit on the floor in a circle for discussion and learning time, and desks are only used for independent reading and writing. I see this strategy having huge impacts on student engagement and how students interact with each other and the teacher, and yet any classroom can choose to do this, not just a charter school. This is the same with the types of assignments students are given. At Whittier, most of class time was spent filling out review sheets independently. DDES, on the other hand, had students talking, reading, writing, and moving, all at once, the facilitate learning.
The amount of resources that schools and teachers have access to definitely impacts their ability to cater to students' needs. But I don't see autonomous budget as a necessity for innovation. Are we becoming too stuck in the belief that, if you are a traditional district school, you can't be creative within a classroom? I would love to learn more about the freedom and restrictions that traditional public school teachers feel they have, and how much these truly are impacted by governance.
Eliza, I like that you had the opportunity to see what Whittier does with their circumstances. I imagine it was definitely quite a transition, but it seems like you gained a lot from being able to get into some real teaching action. I like that the teacher threw you into the mix because I feel like having those experiences really push you to test out your own teaching skills. I know from my own similar experiences that I learn much more from actually doing and being in the act of teaching instead of on the sidelines taking notes. The question you pose about innovation is crucial too, because I've thought a lot about whether or not these titles schools have really do limit or promote their ability to be innovative. It seems kind of like what Avi said in that the bureaucracy shouldn't be an excuse! Schools can be innovative regardless of their status, it's just a matter of people taking the necessary steps to be innovative within their context! Great post!
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a very valuable perspective! I agree that innovation has unnecessary ties to funding and resources but it can be done at some level in every setting. The way the classroom is set up and run is a good example of this. The classroom environment can be innovative without there being a need for external resources. Innovation should not be limited but it should be accessible.
ReplyDeleteI think that the amount of responsibility you had at Whittier is surprising- especially in your first day there! It is definitely much more than I've gotten to do in a week and a half at my school...
-Liz
Great reflections Eliza. Are there aspects of DDES that Whittier could learn from/gain from? Are there aspects of Whittier that DDES could learn from/gain from? Aside from being labeled a 'charter' or 'innovation' school, what differentiates these two entities?
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