Educating Educators

A couple weeks ago, the Upper School Faculty took a professional development day the weekend before Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  We reached out to educators at peer schools in the area to see who could host us, and we visited individually or in groups of up to six teachers.  A total of 22 US faculty members made the visit.  Schools we visited included: Bentley, Berkeley High, Head Royce, Lighthouse Academy, Prospect Sierra, Redwood Day, and St. Mary's College High School.  One of our faculty members even reached out to the curriculum coordinator for the South San Francisco School district.

Many of us met each other for carpools in the morning.  This logistical choice ended up being a fruitful way for us to discuss our practices with each other.  While we have meetings every Wednesday, between planning the upcoming week and prepping our own classes, we don’t have time to talk to each other as often as we’d like.

After the meeting, we came together to share a luxurious lunch provided by the parents in our community.  Later, at a staff meeting, we further discussed the models we had seen, reviewed our own practices, and worked through fresh ideas for invigorating our curricula and programs.  A few teachers considered the ongoing problem of scheduling classes, given what we had observed, as well as the possibilities and limits of block scheduling in the Upper School.  We thought about how many minutes core subjects were given and how often they met each week.  Some considered the role of advisory and the time given to advisory daily or weekly.  I heard one teacher discuss the resources offered by a veteran teacher in the same subject at the high school level.  Many of us came away with new possibilities for different texts and approaches for assessment.  And in the few weeks after the school visits, our school therapist has already implemented some ideas she observed, improving our own learning services procedures by increasing transparency for teachers.  

While we recognize the best practices in other programs, we were happy to find reasons for why we love Black Pine Circle so much.  Our classrooms really are student-centered rather than teacher-directed.  Teachers at Black Pine Circle prioritize collaboration in the classroom--a true 21st century educational priority.  The administration at Black Pine Circle gives the teachers a great deal of power to drive their own curricula and develop professionally.  Our students shine because they have their own voice.  Moreover, our students’ skills in inquiry drive their academic success and nurture curiosity.  Our Socratic practice is undeniably unique, remarkable, and effective.

Many of these schools are ostensibly our rivals--we are competing for the same pool of students--but true educators believe in educating all students, whether in our own classrooms or elsewhere.  This was evident in the joyous and welcoming attitudes we felt from our colleagues at different schools.  Truly, we educators are at our best when we have a chance to be students, to continually question our own work, to grow, and to learn.