Promise of Practice #3 Masterful Teaching & Student Engagement

[Audio] Promise of Practice # 3. Masterful Teaching & Student Engagement. A Rationale..

[Audio] Educators often use common terms to describe great teaching. Terms like effective, distinguished, or masterful. But what, really, is masterful teaching? Similarly, what does student engagement really mean? What does it look like? How does it sound? What does the teacher do? The students? Later today, you will explore these two key questions with your colleagues during breakout rooms. Promise of Practice 3, next school year's focus, centers on these two key pedagogical concepts: masterful teaching and student engagement. We can dissect masterful teaching through the lens of understanding artisans..

[Audio] What is an artisan? An artisan creates a product in small batches, applying specialized knowledge and skill, with a measure of artistic creativity..

[Audio] An artisan is one skilled in the applied arts, a craftsperson...a unique combination of artist, scientist, and skilled laborer..

[Audio] Excellent teachers are just like this. They are Artisans. Artful, knowledgeable, skilled, masters of their craft..

[Audio] In other arts, such as painting, sculpture, and the writing of novels---master artisans use basic tools to transform the rawest of materials into the most valued assets in society. In that same way, teachers should see themselves as artisans. Their tools being a sound knowledge base of teaching, a repertoire of instructional practices, and the abilities of reflection and problem-solving..

[Audio] The most successful teachers are skillful. They do things. They make moves. They teach with an attention to detail and a level of execution that produces extra success for learners They see teaching as a set of skills, some natural and some learned, that combine to produce optimal learning for students. The teachers who best exemplify this skillful approach to instruction are Artisan Teachers; skilled in the craft of teaching..

[Audio] Promise of Practice 3. Additional questions..

[Audio] How many pillars are in Promise of Practice 3? Three pillars, or large categories, makeup promise of practice 3. They are: Respectful Learning Tasks. Student Engagement and Rigor. and Assessment for Learning..

[Audio] Why does Promise of Practice 3 include a strong focus on assessment for learning? Assessment for learning puts our students at the center of their own learning in a way that intrinsically motivates them to keep track of where they are now, where they are going, and how to close their learning gaps. Black and Wiliam's groundbreaking meta-analysis, ' Inside the Black Box', showcases the student as a decision maker. Many other prominent education experts have also described the benefits of students' involvement in assessment processes such as goal-setting, tracking learning, and self-reflection..

[Audio] Why is student engagement such a focus of a Promise of practice that's about teaching? The reasoning here is not a hard sell. Most, if not all of us, will agree that without student engagement, teaching is a solo act. Several studies and high school reform initiatives cite student engagement as a key ingredient in helping students stay in school and be successful..

[Audio] In fact, many argue that effective teaching cannot be separated from active and authentic student engagement. A large body of research shows overwhelming evidence that both effective teaching and authentic student engagement are both necessary in order to produce significant gains in student outcomes..

[Audio] Here is an analogy describing the impact authentic student engagement with the learning can have on student outcomes. Think about the typical question-and-answer session in most classrooms as a " beach ball scenario". Picture it. The teacher is holding a beach ball. The teacher tosses the beach ball to student 1, who quickly catches the ball and tosses it back to the teacher. The teacher then tosses the beach ball to Student 2. The same scenario happens perhaps three or four times during what is poorly referred to as " class discussion"..

[Audio] Although the teacher asked three or four questions, only two or three eager students actually got an opportunity to demonstrate active cognitive engagement with the learning goal. The teacher got little feedback from the other students and did not get an accurate assessment of what the other students learned, perhaps, until it was too late..

[Audio] The problem with tossing the beach ball is that too many students sit, either passively or actively disengaged, giving no indication of what they are thinking or of what they have learned..

[Audio] Here's the reality. The actual implementation of techniques that cognitively engage students is not the norm in many classrooms. This situation is true in urban, rural, and "well-to-do" suburban schools..

[Audio] Educational research identifies teacher quality as the most important school-related factor influencing student achievement. Teacher quality includes teachers' ability to seamlessly use strategies that result in masterful teaching, student success, and consistent and authentic student engagement..

[Audio] Now that a rationale and purpose has been set, our next step is to dig deeper into the three pillars of Promise of Practice 3. Respectful Learning Tasks. Student Engagement and Rigor. And Assessment for Learning..

[Audio] Right now, let's get ready to discuss, critique, and provide suggestions for Promise of Practice 3 during a small, group collaborative analysis of its pillars, in breakout rooms with your colleagues..