Why Increase Teachers’ Responsibility

Week after week, I’ve been writing here about the Gradual Increase of Responsibility Model for coaching. Recently, I was asked to provide an explanation for why I would want to increase teachers’ responsibility. Don’t teachers already have enough responsibility? After all, they are already responsible for lunch counts, permission slips, and attendance; completing required administrative documentation; collecting fundraising envelopes and picture money; and being on bus, recess, or hall duty. This year, teachers have also been responsible for making sure students wear masks and stay spaced. They’ve been responsible for wiping down high-touch surfaces or managing new technology. And the list goes on. Don’t teachers already have plenty of responsibility?
 
My answer is a resounding, “yes,” and perhaps some of those things could be taken off their plates. Yet, I continue to advocate for increasing teachers’ responsibility in the important and job-appropriate practice of instructional decision making, because that responsibility is life-giving. Using their brains to think about how to best support students’ learning is empowering and creates energy for teachers. It’s probably the reason they entered the profession in the first place. Giving teachers more of this kind of responsibility allows them to exercise their agency, using all they know about content, pedagogy, and their students.
 
Coaching with the Gradual Increase of Responsibility Model increases teachers’ role in their own professional learning. Like the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model for teaching reading comprehension, which was the conceptual guide for the model’s development, the GIR Coaching Model suggests differing levels of support and increasing responsibility for teacher-as-learner. The Model is a coaching guide for choosing the right level of support for instructional decision-making – support that guides, challenges, or affirms to ensure that teachers are empowered and students consistently experience effective instruction. Teachers’ agency is honored and their efficacy increases as they design and witness improved instruction.
 
The teachers I’ve been working with this year have been stripped of much of their professional agency. I understand why: the district felt a tightly-scripted curriculum would allow easier pivots between in-person and remote learning. Yet this move has been energy-draining for teachers. Thankfully, as the pandemic eases, these teachers are being given more flexibility. This week, as we worked to plan lessons from scratch, I saw energy and joy flowing during their work. The first-grade team got excited about bringing in baby plants for students to match to photos of their grown-up counterparts; the third-grade team can’t wait to see how their students handle the boat-building STEM challenge they are linking to their immigration unit; the fourth-grade team will have their students act out the Greek myths they’ve been reading about. As we planned, teachers kept using the word “excited” – they can’t wait to teach these lessons. One teacher said, “This is going to be my favorite lesson all year!” The energy in the room was palpable, and the joy teachers felt as they considered their students’ needs and their own instructional repertoires was evident in their smiles and laughter. Yes, there was lots of laughter during these lesson-planning sessions!
 
Increasing responsibility by giving teachers the chance to do more of what they love about teaching is powerful!  Increasing their instructional agency acknowledges teachers’ professionalism. It recognizes their role as agents for change. The GIR model is a pathway that enables continual growth of the knowledge, interpersonal resources, and motivation required to improve teaching and learning. Teachers drive instructional improvement as they determine new ideas and methods to incorporate into their teaching.
So, should we be asking less or more of teachers?  My answer will always be that we should require less of what does not require teachers’ professionalism, and more of what does.

This week, you might want to take a look at:
 
Compassion, connection, curiosity, and care as leadership characteristics:
 
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/dec20/vol78/num04/Meena-Srinivasan-on-Mindful-School-Leadership.aspx
 
 
What goes into a culturally-sustaining classroom:
 
https://ncte.org/blog/2018/08/first-day-actions-for-a-culturally-sustaining-classroom-environment/
 
 
Publishing parties for authentic writing purpose:
 
http://wonderteacher.com/8-tips-for-a-great-publishing-party/
 
 
What coaches need to flourish:
 
https://blog.teachboost.com/three-psychological-needs-of-an-ic
 
 
LOTS and HOTS: a taxonomy of digital learning:
 
https://www.teachthought.com/critical-thinking/blooms-digital-taxonomy-verbs-21st-century-students/
 
That’s it for this week.  Happy Coaching!
 
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