There
are many characteristics that are required in order for a school to be
listed as a Quality School. There are currently 13 such schools in the
country, with many more on their journey to become Quality Schools.
In
a Quality School , relationships are based upon trust and respect, and
all discipline problems, not incidents, have been eliminated. Total
Learning Competency is stressed and an evaluation that is below
competence or what is now a "B" has been eliminated. All schooling as
defined by Dr. William Glasser has been replaced by useful education.
All students do some Quality Work each year that is significantly beyond
competence. All such work receives an "A" grade or higher, such as an
"A+".
Students and staff are taught to use Choice Theory in
their lives and in their work in school. Parents are encouraged to
participate in study groups to become familiar with the ideas of Dr.
William Glasser. Students do better on state proficiency tests and
college entrance examinations. The importance of these tests is
emphasized in the school. Staff, students, parents and administrators
view the school as a joyful place.
All of the above criterion
must be in place to be listed as a Quality School. When a school is a
Quality School, the dictates of "No Child Left Behind" take care of
themselves. Now, of course there will be a few children who have totally
rejected school who are unreachable, but for the majority, they will
learn and do quality work.
The way to achieve this is to
implement the three conditions of quality. First, the school and each
classroom must create an environment that will meet the needs of the
students, and consequently of teachers. All humans are born with five
basic human needs. We have the need for survival, connection/love,
power, freedom and fun/learning. This is true of students and teachers.
In
order to help students meet their need for survival, the school and
classroom must be safe. They must feel that they won't be hurt
physically or emotionally. When students feel safe, there is no need to
threaten teachers or other students.
In order for students to
satisfy their need for connection/love, they must have a relationship
with the teacher and the other students. They must believe that the
teacher has their best interest at heart. The more you give love and
connection away, the more they come back to you.
In order to
satisfy a student's need for power, teachers must listen to and respect
their students' ideas and issues. This does not mean that teachers must
agree with their students but they must at least let the students know
that they are important. When students feel listened to and respected,
they don't disrespect their teachers and they tend to listen more.
For
students to have freedom, they must have choices. They must not be
bogged down in rules and regulations. When students have choices, they
won't have the need to create destructive choices of their own.
In
school, learning should be fun. Learning is always fun when the
learning is useful and the students want to learn what is being taught.
Imagine students having fun learning! Isn't that the dream of teachers
everywhere? When your students are having fun, you do too.
I
know this sounds like an impossible task but there are many schools
doing just that with training in Dr. William Glasser's Choice Theory.
Creating a need-satisfying environment is what actually eliminates
discipline problems. If someone has a legitimate, appropriate way to get
his/her needs met, then there is no reason to create discipline
problems.
Switching courses over to a competency-based approach
is critical to the Quality School concept. Students are not permitted to
get credit for less than B work and they have opportunities to improve
their work until it meets the minimum standard for a B. Concepts are
taught in such a way that reduces the need for memorizing facts that can
be found in any encyclopedia or text.
This and more speaks to
the second condition of quality that students will only be asked to do
useful work. It is the teacher's job to convince students that what they
are being asked to do is useful in the real world. If you are
successful in that endeavor, you will have willing students. Wouldn't
that make your job more enjoyable for you?
The final condition
of quality is self-evaluation. Students are asked to grade their own
work. There are two essential items that must be met in order to get
accurate self-evaluations from students. First, they must have no fear
that the teacher or anyone else will hurt them with an honest
self-evaluation. Second, there must be a clear rubric in place that will
give students a model against which to compare their own work.
Self-evaluation
does not replace the need of the teacher or teacher's aide (another
student already judged to be competent in that particular area) from
corroborating the student's self-evaluation. Students are not punished
for less than competent work. Rather they are shown where their work is
lacking and given the opportunity to fix it. This, again, is a skill
that is seen everyday in the real world. Rarely do people actually lose
their jobs for substandard work. They are told what is wrong and asked
to fix it.
Of course this is just a thumb-nail sketch of what is
necessary to become a Quality School but if you or anyone you know is
interested in learning more, visit www.coachingforexcellence.biz and
check our calendar for upcoming teleclasses, chats and workshops.
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Terima kasih sudah mampir di blog sederhana ini. Jangan lupa, biar cakep dan cantik silakan ninggalin satu atau dua patah kata. Apa pun komennya boleh, yang penting sopan dan tdk promosi.