Cultural Integration: Discussion Guides for Creating a Teacher-Powered School

8/10/2019 Cultural Integration: Discussion Guides for Creating a Teacher-Powered School

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Discussion Guides for Creatinga Teacher-Powered School:

LESSONS FROMTHE PIONEERS

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Cultural Integration

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About The Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ) is proud to work in partnership with EducationEvolving and their Teacher-Powered Schools Initiative , the Ford Foundation, the LabradorFoundation, and the National Education Association to introduce Discussion Guides forCreating a Teacher-Powered School: Lessons from the Pioneers . These discussion guideswere prepared for teachers who are beginning or continuing the journey of designing andmanaging teacher-powered (previously known as teacher-led) schools.

To create these discussion guides, a team of teachers from across the nationmost ofwhom are pioneers of teacher-powered schoolsshared their knowledge, experiences,reections, and ideas. The team worked in the CTQ Collaboratory to create these practicaltools for teacher teams engaging in school design or ongoing school improvement. LoriNazareno and Kim Farris-Berg of CTQs School Redesign team facilitated the process.

Project teamKevin Brewster, co-lead teacher at Howard C. Reiche School (Portland, ME)

Stephanie Davis, teacher at TAGOS Leadership Academy (Janesville, WI)

Aaron Grimm, teacher at Minnesota New Country School (Henderson, MN)

Eric Hendy, teacher at San Francisco Community School (San Francisco, CA)

Alysia Krafel, co-founder and teacher at Chrysalis Charter School (Palo Cedro, CA)

Virginia Rhodes, former principal at Hughes STEM High School (Cincinnati, OH)

Cheryl Suliteanu, CTQ Virtual Community Organizer and teacher at OceansideUnified School District (Oceanside, CA)

Nora Whalen, teacher at Avalon School (St. Paul, MN)

Jenerra Williams, teacher at Mission Hill K-8 (Boston, MA)

W W W . T E A C H I N G Q U A L I T Y . O R G / T E A C H E R P O W E R E D
http://www.teachingquality.org/http://www.teacherpowered.org/http://www.teachingquality.org/collaboratoryhttp://www.teachingquality.org/about/who-we-are/staff-bios#LoriNazarenohttp://www.teachingquality.org/about/who-we-are/staff-bios#LoriNazarenohttp://www.teachingquality.org/about/who-we-are/staff-bios#KimFarrisBerghttp://bit.ly/SWTA4Xhttp://bit.ly/SWTA4Xhttp://bit.ly/SWTA4Xhttp://www.teachingquality.org/about/who-we-are/staff-bios#KimFarrisBerghttp://www.teachingquality.org/about/who-we-are/staff-bios#KimFarrisBerghttp://www.teachingquality.org/about/who-we-are/staff-bios#LoriNazarenohttp://www.teachingquality.org/about/who-we-are/staff-bios#LoriNazarenohttp://www.teachingquality.org/about/who-we-are/staff-bios#LoriNazarenohttp://www.teachingquality.org/about/who-we-are/staff-bios#LoriNazarenohttp://www.teachingquality.org/collaboratoryhttp://www.teachingquality.org/collaboratoryhttp://www.teacherpowered.org/http://www.teacherpowered.org/http://www.teachingquality.org/http://www.teachingquality.org/


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How to use these discussion guides These discussion guides are designed to be

used in conjunction with Ste ps to Creating a

Teacher-Powered Schoo l, a digital how-to

guide featuring more than 250 resources and

detailed instructions for teacher teams

navigating the ve stages of designing,

running, and maintaining a teacher-powered

school. Together, these resources guide

teacher teams toward the knowledge, skills,

dispositions, and processes they will need in order to successfully create and sustain their

teacher-powered schools.

Collaborating with team members is key when using these discussion

guides. We recommend printing copies and inviting team members to

take notes as you work through the discussion questions together.

We also encourage you to join the CTQ Collaboratory

(www.teachingquality.org/collaboratory ) to connect with other teachers

who are starting and continuously improving teacher-powered schools. In

the School Redesign lab, your team can start a Wiki to capture your ideas,

record your teams answers to the discussion questions in these guides, and documentyour journey. You can also create discussion threads to ask members for advice and ideas

as you work through the concepts and questions in the discussion guides.

Joining the Collaboratory is free

and easy and takes just three

minutes. When you sign up, make

sure to click the School Redesign

box so you can join theconversation right away.

Good luck to your team as youcontinue your journey toward innovative, 21 st -century designs for learning and teaching!

W W W . T E A C H I N G Q U A L I T Y . O R G / T E A C H E R P O W E R E D

teacherpowered.org/guide
http://www.teacherpowered.org/guidehttp://www.teacherpowered.org/guidehttp://www.teacherpowered.org/guidehttp://www.teacherpowered.org/guidehttp://www.teachingquality.org/collaboratoryhttp://bit.ly/SWTA4Xhttp://www.teacherpowered.org/guidehttp://www.teacherpowered.org/guidehttp://www.teacherpowered.org/guidehttp://bit.ly/SWTA4Xhttp://bit.ly/SWTA4Xhttp://www.teachingquality.org/collaboratoryhttp://www.teachingquality.org/collaboratoryhttp://www.teacherpowered.org/guidehttp://www.teacherpowered.org/guidehttp://www.teacherpowered.org/guidehttp://www.teacherpowered.org/guide


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In education, there is often a cultural assumption that teachers jobsare the same at every school. That job looks something like this: thereis a principal who serves as manager and makes most decisionsrelated to school success, while teachers stay alone in their

classrooms with students all day long. Few, if any, of thesecolleagues will visit one anothers classrooms to observe teaching.

Many of todays teachers grew up watching their teachers do thework under this assumptionand they were also likely trained for that

same job. Not surprisingly, when many candidates apply to teacher-poweredschools, they are most familiar withand loyal to the concept ofthat traditional job.

But in teacher-powered schools, the job of teaching is different. All teachers work as ateam, sharing responsibility and accountability for school success. Their mindset shiftsfrom my classroom to our school. As a result, teacher teams design shared leadershipstructures that support their schools, applying innovative approaches to learning andteaching.

As part of this work, teams must consider how to integrate new personnel into the schoolculture they have carefully created. New team members at teacher-powered schools needaccess to people and information that will support their learning and cultural integration.But teams should also consider how new hires can provide new perspectives and ideasfor advancing the teams shared purpose.

The pioneers of teacher-powered schools acknowledge the difculty of joining a newcommunityespecially a well-established one that operates in a fundamentally differentway than traditional schools. Team members must nd ways to make new personnel feelwelcomed and informed about the different avenues of support available to them.

W W W . T E A C H I N G Q U A L I T Y . O R G / T E A C H E R P O W E R E D 1

Discussion Guide for Creating a Teacher-Powered School :

LESSONS FROM THE PIONEERS

Cultural Integration
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PROVIDING MENTORSHIPAND SUPPORT

What have the pioneers done?Nearly all teacher-powered schools providesome sort of mentorship for new teachers.

Teams believe that it is crucial to support newteam members since teachers are co-responsible and co-accountable for thesuccess of the school (not just the students intheir classrooms). There is a shared sentimentand understanding that it is everyonesresponsibility to ensure their colleaguessuccess.

Planning meetings and retreats Teams place a high value on modeling theircultureespecially collaborative behavior anddecision makingfor new team members. Inmany schools, this modeling starts withbeginning-of-the-year planning meetings andretreats.

During these rst interactions with the team,new team members can see and experiencehow distributed leadership workswhich iskey to successful cultural integration. Mostteams believe that new hires will best beintegrated into the culture by experiencing it.

At the same time, teams make an effort tobring past context and history into theconversation and encourage new voices andideas.


We have a Summer Institute before schoolstarts. We craft a combination of PD, grade-level planning, and committee work. Werevisit values and beliefs and set schoolwidegoals, as well as outline the upcoming year'sobjectives. New team members are invitedand expected to contribute.

Kevin Brewster,Reiche School,

Portland, ME

Everyone mentors everyone else on anongoing basis because we share students,are in and out of one another's classroomsfrequently, and go on eld trips and weeklyeld studies together. Out of these sharedexperiences rises the context of true supportand mentoring. Since every member of theteam affects the outcome of everything else,mentoring emerged naturally as a way to

make sure new members were successful.We cant afford to have someone on the teamwho doesnt t our model or who doesntknow what theyre doing.

Alysia Krafel,Chrysalis Charter School,

Palo Cedro CA

New staff need to see that everyone has a voice in decisionsand a responsibility to weigh in on them.

Nora Whalen,Avalon School,

St. Paul, MN
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Approaches to mentoring Teams take a variety of approaches in how they address mentorship throughout the schoolyear. Some teams see the mentor role as an informal one in which new team memberscan seek out any team member to share successes, ask advice, or talk through asituation. Other teams assign mentors as needed, such as when new personnel need tobe briefed on the collaborative decision-making process.

Other teams create formal, structured roles in whichmentors support team members in understanding andimplementing the schools unique academic andleadership model. These teams intentionally pair newteachers with mentors in an effort to retain personneland ensure that time is dedicated toward thisimportant task. Some teams also take advantage ofstate- or district-run mentorship guidelines and

programs, which sometimes provide stipends tomentors.

Alternatively, many teams provide a combination of informal and formal mentoring for newteam members.

When it comes to mentorship responsibilities, some teams pay mentors, while others donot. Teams that pay see this as a sign of the priority that mentorship takes in their school.

Those that do not pay tend to see mentorship as a fundamental aspect of being part ofthe teamnot an extra duty.

Teams with formal mentorship programs typically follow these four steps:

1. Clarify the support avenues available to newteam members. Many teacher-powered schools have multiplesupports for new personnel. These include:

A formal welcome meeting;

All-school personnel, or house, meetings;

Frequent informal observations and check-inswith an administrator, lead teacher, or personnelcommittee; and

A formal mentor who supports the new teammember in understanding the instructional andleadership characteristics of the school.


Each new team member has aone-on-one with the principal. Thatconversation includes a welcome,question and answer time, andsharing of expectations.

Jenerra Williams,

Mission Hill K-8,Boston, MA

In addition to mentoring andmodeling, the PersonnelCommittee checks in with all teammembers a minimum of two timesper year, or on an as-neededbasis.

Aaron Grimm,Minnesota New Country School,

Henderson, MN


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2. Determine the frequency and timing of mentor meetings and check-ins. The beginning of the school year is a challenging time for all teachers, especially thosenew to a school. This feeling is amplied at a teacher-powered school because newteam members are adjusting to an unconventional culture of teaching and learning.

Teams frequently establish regular check-ins(sometimes even daily) for new personnel atthe beginning of the year. These teams ndthat investing signicant time early on isworthwhile because of the ideas new teammembers can bring to the school if they areencouraged. As the year progresses and newteam members settle into their roles, teamstypically decrease check-in frequency. Check-

ins also tend to become more informal.

Some teams also consider other times of yearwhen new teachers are likely to need support.

Teams discuss these times with new teammembers and plan their mentorship cyclesand activities accordingly.

3. Consider the best way to match new

team members with mentors. There are numerous factors to considerincluding grade level, content area,experience, personality traits, andworking styles (to name a few). Eachteam sets its own priorities for how to pairmentors with new team members.

4. Consider di ! erent mentoring needs for those completely new to teaching andthose coming from schools with traditional governance.

Team members who are new to teaching require support for both the instructional andleadership aspects of the school. Veteran teachers may need less support on theinstructional side but might take longer to assimilate to a teacher-powered schoolsculture and leadership structure, which are likely distinct from their previousexperiences.


Figure out the most critical points ofneed for new teachers. As experiencededucators, we all come to know thecyclical nature of schools. Certain issuespresent themselves at certainpredictable times of the year. Newerfaculty and staff need to have thesetimings foretold in order to anticipate

and plan.

Virginia Rhodes,Hughes STEM High School,

Cincinnati, OH

You have to be intentional about mentoring.Often times, the people who would serve as

the best mentors are the busiest, mostdedicated people at your school. You have tond time for these leaders to work with newteam members, while also growingmentorship skills across the team.

Aaron Grimm,Minnesota New Country School,

Henderson, MN


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Create a plan for how new team members will have opportunities to integrate into theculture of the school, including how they will develop a sense of shared responsibility

and accountability for whole-school success. Keep in mind that teachers from traditionallystructured schools are most likely accustomed to only being responsible for the students intheir own classroom. Consequently, these new team members may need support inshifting from a mindset of my to our students.

Create a mentorship program for new team members and dene its purpose.Consider whether mentors will be assigned by the team (or a group or individual

acting on behalf of the team) or chosen by the mentees. Determine whether there will be a

formal mentorship structure or only organic interactions, and whether mentors work willbe guided by team goals or the goals of mentees (or both). The choices your team makesabout these issues should help your team determine whether the school will pay mentors.

Consider to whom new team members should go with specic questions orchallengesand how you will inform new team members about who those people

are. For example, if your team distributes leadership across committees or individuals,determine how new team members will learn about which committee or individual to go tofor which issues.

Determine the different types of support structures that your team wants to put inplace. Consider how mentorship is different for team members who are new toteaching and team members who are veteran teachers. Identify the potential challengeseach new team member may face and develop a plan for how to support them. Also,consider how to best match mentors with new team members. Evaluate the skills andabilities that mentors have and how well they match the specic needs of new personnel.


We recently had two new team members who came from traditionally structuredschools. These two took a little longer than the brand-new teachers to believe thatthey really had a voice in how things are run. They were so used to being told how thebudget would work, how large the classes would be, and what the working structure

would be that it took them a while to gain condence in their own ability to knowwhat to do and assert new ideas among colleagues. The brand-new teachers had noprevious experience, so they adapted more quickly.

Alysia Krafel,Chrysalis Charter School,

Palo Cedro, CA

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Create opportunities to model the ways in which your school and team operate sothat new team members can see them in action. One of the best ways for teachers

to understand how a teacher-powered school is different from a traditionally structuredschool is to see and experience it for themselves. Most often, teachers are accustomed toneeding to get approval for almost any decision that they make, with principals being theultimate decision makers. Its important for team members to work toward a clearunderstanding of the scope of their decision-making authority (both individual and team) byseeing other teachers leading and by experiencing what its like to work with a principalwho is accountable to the team (not vice versa).

Resist the temptation toaccommodate new team members

mistakes and break from the school culturerather than taking the time to explain howthings work. For example, if team members

are expected to handle disciplinary mattersas they observe thembut instead a newteam member sends a student to the leadteacher or principals ofcethe leadteacher must take the time to bring thestudent back to the teacher and explain howhe/she is expected to handle the situation.Sometimes it seems easier to bend the rulesand help out new teachers, but thisdoesnt support cultural integrationand it

damages the school culture in the longerterm.


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It's a good idea to have new teachers rotatethrough several key committees and thecentral council or decision-making body, evenif they are not assigned to it, so that they cangain insight and context to the dailyexperience. By practicing transparency, theschool gains a chance to allow opencommunication norms to developratherthan the best source of information forteachers becoming the grapevine.

Virginia Rhodes,Hughes STEM School,

Cincinnati, OH

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS


What opportunities will your team take to model theways in which your school operates? What

opportunities will your team create for new team

members to experience these differences forthemselves?

How will support differ for new teachers versusveteran teachers? How will supports be

differentiated based on the needs of individual teammembers? How will your team match mentors with

new personnel?

Where will new team members go to accesssupport? How will they know which people to go tofor specic issues? Will one person be expected to

be the go-to mentor for everything? Or willdifferent people be responsible for providing

support for various issues?

What does your team see as the purpose of yourschools mentorship structure? Why does it exist?What do you want it to accomplish? How will it be

structured? Will mentors be paid? Why or why not?

How will your team support new personnel inshifting to a mindset of shared responsibility for

whole-school success? What activities will newteam members do to help them cultivate that

mindset?

Continue the conversation in the School Redesign lab on the CTQ Collaboratory.www.teachingquality.org/collaboratory
http://bit.ly/1C3hznthttp://www.teachingquality.org/content/school-redesignhttp://www.teachingquality.org/content/school-redesignhttp://www.teachingquality.org/collaboratoryhttp://www.teachingquality.org/collaboratoryhttp://www.teachingquality.org/collaboratoryhttp://www.teachingquality.org/content/school-redesignhttp://www.teachingquality.org/content/school-redesignhttp://bit.ly/1C3hznthttp://bit.ly/1C3hznt


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CLARIFYING RESPONSIBILITIESOF NEW TEAM MEMBERS

What have the pioneers done?Generally speaking, new teachers do not have as many responsibilities as teachers whohave been at their schools for a whilebut they certainly have the same rights. When newteachers are comfortable, and veteran teachers feel these teachers are ready, newteachers slowly take on more responsibilities (and are encouraged to do so). Teamsunderstand that the sooner these duties are added, the sooner new teachers can feel andassume ownership of the school, which is important for a high-performing culture.

Teacher-powered teams strive to create a climate that supports new team members incoming out of their shells to actively engage in leading the schoolwhile ensuring that

they develop an understanding of why the school operates the way it does. Mentorsshould work with new team members to explain the history and reasoning for the design ofthe school, especially before new hires propose any fundamental changes to the way theschool operates. Grounding new team members experience in the history of the schoolslearning and management models helps ensure that any ideas new team memberspropose will be aligned with the teams shared purpose.


We try to not weigh down new team members too much with school

management jobs outside of teaching (such as facilities, nance, hiring,and evaluation committees). But they can participate fully in determiningall recommendations those committees bring to the whole team. Theirmain focus the rst year is teaching and building relationships withstudents, families, and colleagues.

It often comes down to the mentor to encourage the new hire to take itslow. The adjustment time is several months. After thatpost-honeymoonwe are pretty open about talking about one another's workloads and trying to be balanced.

Nora Whalen,Avalon School,

St. Paul, MN


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Its important that new team members have a sense of ownership as soon as possibleafter joining the school. However, teams nd it can be a delicate balance to develop newteachers sense of ownership and not overwhelm them with a new model of teaching andlearning.

Just as teachers differentiate supports for students, so too should veteran team membersdifferentiate supports for new team members. Figuring out what strengths and challengeseach new team member brings to the table is usually teams rst step in designingindividualized supports.

Create a plan for learning about thestrengths and needs of new

personneland how you will activate andsupport them. Tapping into new teachersstrengths and putting them into actionespecially around a smaller, specicprojectcan be a powerful rst step indeveloping their sense of ownership in theschool.

As part of these supports, develop aplan for helping new team members

learn why the school is designed the wayit isand communicate the limits of teammembers ability to propose fundamentalchanges to how the school operates.Sometimes teachers are attracted to theteacher-powered model because theybelieve that it will give them completeindividual autonomy. Oftentimes, thesenew team members lack anunderstanding that their work and

contributions must align to the sharedpurpose of the school, which was set bythe whole teamand that its notnecessarily appropriate to try to imposeevery one of their own ideas on the entireteam.


At our school, teachers need to have at least

three years of experience to be on thePersonnel Team. New teachers wouldn't beexpected to chair a site-based managementteam (teams that administratively run ourschool). We ask new teachers to getcomfortable with their teachingresponsibilities before taking on other duties.After that point, all teachers and otherpersonnel are asked to join at least two site-

based management teams and oneprofessional development team.

New teachers have the same rights regardingvoting on issues. There can be hesitancy fromsome new teachers to exercise this powerinitiallybecause having a voice as a newperson isn't common, especially in teaching.

Aaron Grimm,

Minnesota New Country School,Henderson, MN

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS


Continue the conversation in the School Redesign lab on the CTQ Collaboratory.www.teachingquality.org/collaboratory

How will your team determine the strengths andneeds of new team members? How will your team

use that information to build and differentiatesupports? What activities and practices (formal or

informal) can you design to engage new teachers inspreading their wings?

How will new team members learn the historybehind the schools culture and practice in order tounderstand why it operates the way it does? Howwill you support new team members in learning to

lead while limiting their ability to proposefundamental changes to the school model early on?

How will you communicate that, while the school

and team have certain autonomies, this does notmean that teachers have unlimited individualautonomy?

What leadership responsibilities will new teammembers have from day one, and which will be

phased in over time? How will their roles andexperiences be structured to ensure that they feel

like full-edged members of the team without beingoverwhelmed by the differences between a teacher-

powered and a traditionally governed school?
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#teacherpowered

Continue the conversation in the School Redesign lab on the CTQ Collaboratory.

www.teachingquality.org/collaboratory

Steps to Creating a Teacher-Powered Schoolwww.teacherpowered.org/guide

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Cultural Integration: Discussion Guides for Creating a Teacher-Powered School