Visible Learning...maybe?

Note:  So this started as a blog post about teacher questioning vs. student questioning and the data Hattie found.  If you read on, you'll see I don't really even get to that.  That will have to be a post for another time.  I started rambling and thinking out loud.  What better place to do that than a blog, right?  Isn't this THE media for self-indulgence?  Anyway, I decided to leave it and post it because if nothing else it's 1) a testament to how important each one of YOU are in our work and the more I can genuinely share that the better and 2) as much as we tout modeling metacognition for our students I don't know that we as leaders do the best job of practicing what we preach for our staff.

So here it is, in all it's bloggy glory.  I'd love it if you'd engage with me, but at the very least if you commit to reading this please commit to thinking about it.

Sarah and I were privileged to hear John Hattie speak this week at a workshop on Visible Learning.  It's both exciting and deflating to hear some of the statistics his research uncovers and the implications this has on our profession; you want the one-size-fits-all approach to fixing everything, but education is a complex game and there's never a "just do this" answer.

However, he kept coming back to a few key points that resonated with us and the work we're doing here in Kaneland.  We were excited and proud as we began to realize that Kaneland 2020 and our focus on Personalized Learning and the philosophies that underpin that approach are putting us in a place to address all of his biggest points.

I won't bore you with every key detail that he shared, but I will play some of the hits:

1--The greatest impact on student achievement is a collective sense of teacher self efficacy.  He went on to explain that this is the belief that teachers--not tools, classrooms, textbooks, computers--are the reason our students learn.  It is the belief and willingness (permission?) to give ourselves (and I use this term loosely; he very clearly stated that it is teachers, not administrators, that make the difference) the credit we deserve that creates this collective sense of efficacy.

But as Uncle Ben Parker said, "with great power comes great responsibility."  Hattie shared that not only must we be comfortable taking credit for our work in helping students achieve, we must also ensure that our focus is always on our impact.  Using collaborative time to look at how what we're doing is (or is not) making a difference and continually using data to reflect and improve upon our practice is what makes this such a powerful factor in student learning.  It is not only knowing how important our impact is that makes the difference; we must also be committed to constantly studying that impact.  

2--So many of the "buzzwords" we invest in have a miniscule impact on student achievement.*  I was devastated when I saw some of the things in which Kaneland has invested so much time and energy--Growth Mindset and Problem Based Learning were two of the biggest blows--appear on his list.  I was pretty much ready to pack it up and go home until he swooped in and gave some context.

*They have a miniscule impact when they are done in the wrong context or as the ends themselves instead of as a means to an end.  When used at the appropriate times and within the appropriate context, their impact doubles and they become some of the best tools we have at our disposal.  He shared that virtually everything on the list has a time and place, no matter how large or small the impact may be, and that it is in knowing how and when to use them that their true power is unleashed.  This is the Art of teaching.  It is refined by that continual focus on our impact on students.  Hattie shunned the word reflection, but I'm not sure why.  It's reflecting on that impact and what we can do better next time (because we still aren't quite comfortable patting ourselves on the back for what we did right today...maybe someday) that helps us refine our art and help our students grow.

3--Impact (read: achievement) happens when students know what success looks like, what is expected of them, and when they are allowed to have voice in what they're doing to achieve that success (Gee, that sounds familiar.  That sure sounds like the philosophy underlying personalized learning). 

--If you're wondering, though there are hints of blogdom up above, here's where things started to take a turn to blog town--

Impact happens when students are the ones in control.  When they are the ones asking questions.  When they are their own critics.  This is kind of a brainbuster...especially when he claims that the factor with the greatest level of impact is teacher self efficacy.

But maybe it's not as confusing as it seems.  I'm not the best with remembering researchers and books and names, but I know that no matter where I go to find my research today I'm going to hear that "best practice" (another word Hattie shuns) all comes back to empowering students to take charge of their learning.  This is where growth mindset, problem based learning, personalized learning...whatever you want to say...all come back together to make a difference.  You set the target.  You point the students in that direction.  You tell them that they can learn this and you will make sure they do.  Then you turn them loose and support each one as needed.  This is what impactful teaching looks like.

Some students will need you to hold their hand as they take their first steps toward the target.  They will need you to show them, and show them, and show them some more.  Then validate and validate and validate until they are sure they can do it right.  Then they will take a tentative step on their own.

Others will rush ahead and stumble.  They'll do some amazing things on their own, but they'll hit an obstacle they simply can't overcome.  They'll come back to you because you told them you'd be there for them--and you are.  You'll help them, you'll show them, you'll give them feedback.  Then they'll leave you and go do more on their own.

Whatever the path, it seems to me that we're responsible for their learning because we're there to guide them.  I truly don't think it's our place to ensure they memorize every fact or can apply every equation correctly.  If they can't quote Shakespeare perfectly or cite evidence correctly 100% of the time something tells me that they're going to be okay.  You all know this, and I don't dare demean your content area you because these things ARE important and they do serve as touchstones in learning.  And I know how much a part of each of you the things you hold dear and important are and how passionately you believe that without them our students won't be successful.  I don't believe that it is anything other than genuine care and a desire for every one of our students to be successful that sometimes makes us cling to that one unit, or that one concept, or that one whatever that they just have to learn from me (we all do it).  But...

When we've failed them is when we forgot to teach them how to learn so that we could teach them stuff instead.  This all fits together because it's on us to know that without us they can't learn and grow to the potential that they each have.  And that's an insane amount of pressure, but we can do it and we will do it.  And every time we do it we can learn how to do it better the next time.  That's the efficacy part.  

But it's not about us laying out every piece of information and then testing them until they can prove that they memorized it--it's about us making them believe they can do it, setting up the environment and selecting strategies that will help them be successful, helping them figure out how to do it on their own (eventually), and being there to pick them up when the fall and point them back on the right track.  That's the Art part.

And when they finally are able to do it on their own--and they get that huge smile on their face and you get that walking on air feeling that no other professional will ever be lucky enough to experience--that's the impact part.

I think I'm preaching to the choir, but sometimes I worry that I don't say that enough, so there it is in black and white.  There's not a one-size-fits-all approach; that's the essence of Hattie's research, which is weird because it seems like there's supposed to be.  Instead it's on us to be committed to finding the best way for every student in every moment.