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| When we talk about changing the culture of a school to make it child centered we must first look at the leadership of the school. An effective school administrator must think of excellence as the great sages have. Excellence, like life is a process, a road to be traveled. It is not a way station where we rest. It implies effort and activity aimed at moving along toward attainable perfection. Think of water which is to seek and to find ways to move our schools on the high road from good to better. This road from good to better begins with the teacher. Research has shown that most teachers perform in a traditional educational model where the teacher works alone or in isolation in their own classroom with very little communication with other teachers who are involved with the education of the same students. Principals now have to create the educational environment that teachers work in, which will allow all teachers to stop working in isolation and allow them to transform their style of teaching to that of a community where everyone works together in educating every student. When leaders show confidence in creating a child centered school and allow teachers to humanize teaching, teachers will have the enthusiasm that will make every child feel that they are well known and connected to a number of concerned adults. This school culture is created when we divide a large school into small schools within a larger school, allowing us to build relationships with our students and supervise them throughout the day. By dividing schools into a series of mini-schools, we enhance the concept that smaller administrative and educational units enhance the opportunity for teacher empowerment, and parental involvement. These small mini-schools create a nurturing and supportive educational atmosphere for our students, where the environment is conducive to learning, while at the same time providing the emotional support and remediation necessary for academic success. Small schools serve two purposes, first, they encourage each child to work to the fullest extent of his/her ability and second, they encourage the teachers to grow, innovate and create exciting educational models of their own design in which they can teach to their own unique and creative strengths. Small schools allow experienced teachers to work closely with new inexperienced teachers, mentoring them regarding the curriculum and aligning it to child development strategies in order for them to meet the challenges of a very complex profession. Within these learning environments the school leaders will show the teachers how to talk to students about issues regarding respect in order to create an environment or culture that is respectful and accepting rather than merely tolerant. If we continue to focus our energies on improving our communities and our civic responsibilities, then we will continue on the road to becoming a successful school which will have a culture to provide a strong educational program for all of their students. How do we create this positive environment where people are trusted, respected and involved? The key is in the word community. As a community we must constantly review our policies and procedures to see if they are fair and appropriate. We must constantly work on character education, life skills training, conflict resolution skills, and other strategies for attaining solutions to problems. Teaming and advisory concepts promote the goal that every child should have at least one adult in the school who knows that child. We know that a good mentoring program is very effective, especially for kids who may not have the support of an adult at home. I have consulted with many schools to help create small schools within larger schools and these new mini-schools have programs that are teacher-created and teacher-directed and with the support of dedicated and passionate administrators. I have seen these mini- schools raise reading and math scores to acceptable levels. These schools have built a foundation for lifelong learning so that students continually grow and become conversant with the democratic ideals upon which our nation was founded. These schools have provided students with the skills and motivation necessary for them to become contributing members of a democratic society. It is also time that our school’s educational leaders recognize their responsibility to model the moral values and demonstrate the character needed so that our students ultimately develop those universally desirable qualities of honesty, compassion, generosity, kindness and respect for people of all cultures. It is with these ends in mind we write our goals and form our educational objectives so all students in all schools can succeed. When we look at the needs of the children we are trying to teach, we must also examine the role of the students’ families and their impact on their childrens' outcomes in school. If many of our students come from single parent homes. Less adult supervision means fewer people to assist in the responsibilities of parenting, including such things as guidance, discipline, and assisting with homework. As a result, the school is assuming these responsibilities. Our students are looking for independence, but they still need adult direction. When this is lacking in the home, the school becomes the new family. When schools are divided into small teams or small learning communities the schools become the extended family for many of our youngsters. This new school structure provides a small group of students with the opportunity to be known by their teachers. Student advisories are a critical part of this environment. Safety nets, especially in guidance, are created to help youngsters deal with this difficult time of their lives. I cannot overstate that the most important element in making a school work, is making every student feel that he is well known and connected to a small number of concerned adults. This connection is the foundation of creating a culture within the school. |
| 5. Meeting needs of all our students by creating learning communities where small groups of children are known by their teachers. Continued from "Home Page") |
| We must discuss with students the importance and the power of into improving our communities, then we will continue to be a successful school. All of this must occur on a daily basis as part of the fabric of the school and not as a curriculum program, but as the will to succeed. We must constantly work on character education, life skills training, conflict resolution and other strategies for seeking peaceable solutions knowledge base of the professional staff and participation by all. Such issues as tolerance, diversity, and conflict should be tied to the curriculum. This is called integrating the fabric of the school into the curriculum. By organizing into teams, we essentially build relationships with our students which allow us to identify factors that lead to learning difficulties and discipline problems. We are all responsible to observe student behavior and respond with an emphasis on prevention. We really need to focus on making children successful. Successful students become part of the process rather than someone who will fight the process. This is our greatest challenge, to encourage innovation, experimentation and creativity. If our shared vision is to create a community of life-long learners who will be the leading citizens of tomorrow, we must begin meeting these challenges today. With encouragement from the administration, the staff will be able to create alternative programs which became mini-schools in their own right and extend the concept of family within a relatively large educational institution. Each new program that teachers create, allows teachers to address the educational and personal needs of the individual child by scaling down the often-daunting barriers of largeness and anonymity. The results of this approach will be seen in improved reading and math scores. Teaching teams provide an excellent opportunity to focus on the learning needs of pupils. Interdisciplinary teams consisting of two to five teachers plan and teach two or more classes during the same periods of the day. This allows teaming teachers to coordinate an interdisciplinary approach to the curriculum for a common group of students. This type of scheduling permits the teachers who teach at the same time to also be available for a common planning period. Teams of teachers are also advisories to students and are able to develop an instructional program by looking at various assessments and consulting with other specialists on staff. Results of these conferences are used to identify those children in the school whom we deem to be in need of additional services. By having our children in mini-schools where there is team teaching, we create for each child a feeling of belonging and ownership. When students increasingly perceive themselves as stake holders in the school through identification with a particular program or mini-school, we begin to see not only improved academic performance, but also improved attendance and attitudes toward school. This perceptual shift combined with strong teaching methodologies and an emphasis on literacy and math, parental involvement, increased guidance services, individualized attention and an enriched environment reaps bountiful educational rewards. An enriched environment which includes extensive classroom libraries, an abundance of resources and deployment of the latest technology will also have a profound effect on student outcomes. It is our goal to organize our schools to meet the needs of all of our students. The different needs of adolescents place extraordinary demands on schools to provide a structure that will accommodate these dissimilarities. Thus, we must create the environment which will let this happen. By meeting this challenge, to encourage innovation, experimentation and creativity and by focusing our shared vision is to create a community of life-long learners. Do not get confused. A school-within-a-school is not a mini-school. When we create a school-within-a-school model, we create an autonomous school with its own administration which needs to negotiate with the other schools within the same building for the use of the cafeteria, gyms, classrooms, libraries, etc., and it creates confusion with issues of staffing, safety and building operation. By creating small mini-schools in larger schools rather than creating a school-within-a-school we replicate the model of smaller schools with their own staff and students, within the walls of larger schools. In this model, the mini-school becomes a separate entity in itself with its focus only on the staffing and educational issues of running a mini-school. By creating mini-schools within a larger school, all the mini-schools that function within the same school structure will harmoniously share the same resources: expertise of school administrators, support staff and experienced teachers. Once again I must emphasize that the goal of these mini schools are not only to ensure success for their students, but they also afford the opportunity for the students to show improved attendance, behavior, satisfaction and greater self-esteem which many educators feel is the backbone for student success. The mini-school models also let teachers create their own learning environment in which their visions of successful schools can be realized. By allowing teachers to generate distinctive environments where there can be greater student success, will also allow all of the mini-school teachers to feel greater self-esteem which is the number one factor for improving instruction, and enhancing morale. |
| SAY NO - Schools Within Schools |
| SAY YES - Mini Schools |
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