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Mentoring, Leadership, and Change
During the 2003 summer institute Mentoring, Leadership and
Change, the participants came with expertise in a) action
research, b) elementary school foreign language education, c)
technology, d) performance assessment, and/or e) thematic planning.
During the institute they synthesized their knowledge and skills
in all four topic areas, expanded their perspectives on initiating
and sustaining change, and acquired research-based techniques
for creating effective change through mentoring and leadership.
Part of our process was to create belief statements about each
of these areas. These belief statements represent what leaders
in foreign language education believe about teaching and learning.
We invite you to use these statements for discussion with your
colleagues.
About Mentoring, Leadership and Change, We Believe:
- Understanding is the well that provides momentum for change;
- Change is created by or is the result of a shift in perspective
(deepening understanding);
- A shift in perspective is the result of exploration, collaboration
and reflection;
- Exploration, collaboration, and reflection arise from cognitive
dissonance;
- Cognitive dissonance results from a conflict between self
and context (system);
- Conflict can be mediated through mentoring;
- Mentoring is a form of leadership;
- Effective leadership recognizes and honors ethical, contributing
members of the learning community;
- Learning communities build common understanding.
About Change, We Believe:
According to Michael Fullan, Change Forces (1993)
- You can’t mandate what matters;
- Change is a journey not a blueprint;
- Problems are our friends;
- Vision and strategic planning come later;
- Individualism and collectivism must have equal power;
- Neither centralization nor decentralization works;
- Connection with the wider environment is critical for success;
- Every person is a change agent.
About Assessment, We Believe:
- Assessment is a process as well as a product;
- Assessment is a continuous and necessary process for ensuring effective
teaching and learning;
- Assessment can take a variety of forms, but should mirror classroom practice
in both content and process;
- Assessment instruments need to be designed according to the specific
context in which they will be used;
- Assessment should be performance-based, showcasing what students know
and can do in a culturally-appropriate, target language-rich context;
- Assessment instruments should be comprehensible, based on clearly defined
expectations that enable the teacher and the students to co-construct meaningful
teaching and learning;
- Teachers should use assessment as a tool to purposefully reflect on and
make adjustments to their instruction.
About Thematic Planning, We Believe:
- Thematic units are an effective, purposeful, content-based way to organize
and focus meaningful, interdisciplinary, contextualized learning experiences
for foreign language students at all levels (PreK-16);
- Thematic units recognize the complex nature of learning and address it
by providing the standards-based opportunities necessary for developing deep,
enduring understandings and functional communicative skills (as opposed to
knowledge of isolated grammatical elements) through critical thinking, creativity,
and collaboration;
- Thematic units and topically-organized textbook units are not mutually
exclusive—they can be integrated;
- Thematic units are grounded in culturally authentic contexts and materials;
- Themes must be culturally-rich, age-appropriate, and personally relevant
and meaningful to students;
- Thematic units are fundamentally different from topic-based units because,
unlike topical instruction (which tends to revolve around a surface-level
exploration of products and practices), they focus on a deeper exploration
of the abstract, cultural perspectives that shape more concrete and observable
products and practices;
- Thematic units employ the backward design process — beginning with
assessment decisions;
- Thematic units promote the use of authentic performance assessment.
About Early Language Learning, We Believe:
- Foreign language learning occurs best within a long sequence of instruction
that is well-articulated both vertically and horizontally and is developmentally
appropriate for the needs and interests of students.
- Early Language Learning focuses on communication in the target language
within rich, meaningful contexts using authentic cultural and linguistic
materials, connecting content across the curriculum.
- Assessment in Early Language Learning should reflect instructional practice.
- Advocacy and appropriate, sustained professional development is essential
for the establishment, growth, and development of successful early language
programs.
About Action Research, We Believe:
- AR is teacher-driven and must occur within the teacher’s locus of
control;
- AR can be qualitative and quantitative in nature;
- AR is a spiraling process of thinking, acting, reflecting, and rethinking
so that the teacher can examine teaching and learning that occurs within
the classroom with the desired outcome of learning to do it better;
- AR requires the systematic collection and examination of data in order
to produce evidence-based interpretations.
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