Here is the second goal I am suggesting for this year:
Goal #2: This one is for department chairs but applies to everyone, really. The goal is perhaps best phrased as a question: What is my Role as a Department Chair in a department that may not have everyone on board with CI instruction?
I personally have very strong thoughts on this topic but we are going to need some discussion from actual department chairs on this. My own opinion is perhaps no surprise – I say that we keep quiet about what we are doing and not try to get our teachers to change, but let them come to us when they see that our kids like our classes more than their kids like their classes (this is just a fact and is not meant to put down their classes).
I finally got this straight in my mind – even though Laurie has been saying it for years – in a conversation with jen this summer and it became clear finally that we can’t change others, only ourselves. That’s just the way it is.
So my message to the department chairs this year, and again I would love to hear how they plan on handling this, is to try to be two people, one running the department just like a traditional teacher would, maybe mentioning CI from time to time, but not pushing it. I don’t believe that schools really want department chairs talking about teaching ideas, anyway, not really. They just need someone to run the budget and all that. They only say that they want department chairs talking about teaching. Really, they want the department chair there as a kind of sheriff to keep the peace – no gunfights and the sleepy little town is safe and nothing happens, which means no fires for administrators to put out and everyone is happy. Sorry for the cynicism. It’s what I think.
I do think it best that we just allow people space to be attracted to the flame and approach CI instruction slowly and safely for them. For me, the days of getting into gunfights with colleagues who are not fully on board with this stuff are over. There’s just not enough time in the day and I always find out that many of the people who say that they are “interested” are really spoiling for a fight. Who’s got time?