Change as Collaborative Inquiry

1.     What information from the article did you connect with the most and why?

·       “Most approaches to systemic education reform are rooted in obsolete, top-down, or expert-driven management beliefs and practices that reflect either what we know about how people learn nor what we have to understand about how organizations change”. I read this and was just like wow… yes that is exactly how it is. I think a lot of time the people in education don’t have power to change things in education, rather it is people outside of the organization, with no prior teaching experience that are making the decisions that impact all of us.  

2.     Thinking of your own school community, what are the issues and concerns regarding school improvement? How are these addressed with the administration and staff? What can you and other staff members do to work towards a more collaborative constructivist approach towards improvement?

·       One of the biggest issues that we are working on for school improvement is to adjust our school schedule in a way that allows students to have both band/choir and a study hall. Currently, students who choose to take band and choir are taken out of study hall. We have many students leave band/choir because they want that homework time and it kind of undervalues how important we think music is. This issue was brought up by our SIT team (School Improvement Team). The SIT team is a volunteer committee made up of teachers and administrators that works to improve the school.

3.     How do you see the action research you do in your classroom supporting adaptation and process of change?

·       The action research project is all about adaptation and the process of change. It is looking at a problem, adapting your curriculum, and changing how my students are learning.