VII Meeting of OAS Ministers of Education Suriname 1-2 March 2012

1. Dr. Michael Johanek University of Pennsylvania FOURTH PLENARY SESSIONEducational institutions as communities of learning: the context for effective teaching VII Meeting of OAS Ministers of Education Suriname 1-2 March 2012

2. In 15 minutes…! • Locating the “learning community” • How does it work? • “Essential supports” model of an effective school • How adults learn in high performing schools • The role of context and a new educational leadership • How to support them? • OAS/Inter-American Educational Leadership Network (IAELN)

3. Locating the “learning community”

4. Levels of the Current Problem Teaching / Learning

5. Organization Teaching / Learning

6. Organization Teaching / Learning Context/Community

7. Organization Leadership Teachers Interaction Teaching / Learning Students Context/Community

8. Policy/Legal Authority Intermediary Governance/Organizations

9. Organization BUFFER - BUILD CAPACITY Leadership Teachers Interaction Teaching / Learning Students Context/Community

10. When it works, how does it work?

11. “Essential supports” model of an • effective school

12. “Essential supports” model Bryk, Anthony S., et al. Organizing Schools for Improvement: Lessons from Chicago. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press 2010. Print.

13. How adults learn in high performing schools

14. High-performing schools “learn” more • High-performing schools tend to be characterized as “learning organizations” • Learning organizations tend to have the following characteristics: • Supportive and shared leadership, participation in decisions • Shared values, vision, goals • Collective learning, shared application of learning, “horizontal network of information flow” (Schechter/Qadach), commitment to improvement • Supportive conditions, resources, culture • Shared personal practice, break with traditional isolated practice • Recent research has been trying to link such characteristics to changes in instructional practice and student achievement

15. The conceptual framework of organizational learning Schechter, Chen. "Organizational Learning Mechanisms: The Meaning, Measure, and Implications for School Improvement." Educational Administration Quarterly 44.2 (2008): 155-86. Print.

16. Peer Influence Supovitz, Jonathan, Philip Sirinides, and Henry May. "How Principals and Peers Influence Teaching and Learning." Educational Administration Quarterly 46, no. 1 (2010): 31-56.

17. Collaboration, shared decisions • Internalized mission, self-efficacy Geijsel, Femke¬†P, et al. "The Effect of Teacher Psychological and School Organizational and Leadership Factors on Teachers' Professional Learning in Dutch Schools." The Elementary School Journal 109.4 (2009): 406-27. Print.

18. Relational trust, tolerance to uncertainty Thoonen, Erik E. J., et al. "How to Improve Teaching Practices: The Role of Teacher Motivation, Organizational Factors, and Leadership Practices." Educational Administration Quarterly 47.3 (2011): 496-536. Print.

19. Organizational Leaning Mechanisms Schechter, Chen, and Mowafaq Qadach. "The Contribution of Organizational Learning Mechanisms -- toward an Organizational Model of Change in Elementary Schools." Educational Administration Quarterly 48.1 (2012): 116-53. Print.

20. How do adults learn in high performing schools? • Maintain stability, a level of certainty within the inevitable uncertainty, focus on students’ development, fight distractions • There is trust between adults and students, transparency in decisions • Leaders that develop and monitor organizational learning mechanisms • “Professional learning communities”

21. The role of context • and • A new educational leadership

22. “Essential supports” model Bryk, Anthony S., et al. Organizing Schools for Improvement: Lessons from Chicago. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press 2010. Print.

23. Organization Leadership Teachers Interaction Teaching / Leaning Students Context/Community

24. Competencies/challenges of the new leadership Knowledge on part of the leader of curricular content e.g., observation/evaluation Resolution of unstructured problems Checking assumptions, looking for alternative perspectives, colaborate, make values explicit, etc. Development of relational trust Interpersonal respect, personal steem among coleagues, personal integrity, capabilities requiered by the position Diagnosis of the surroundings and the organization “ecometrics” Focused development of distributed leadership Robinson, Viviane M. J. "From Instructional Leadership to Leadership Capabilities: Empirical Findings and Methodological Challenges." Leadership & Policy in Schools 9, no. 1 (2010): 1-26.; Nelson/Stein, 2003; Nelson et al, 2007; National College; Burdick-Will et al, 2011; Harding et al, 2011; Spillane et al.

25. The practice of leadership LeadersAdministrators, Specialists, Teachers Leadership –Interacctions FollowersTeachers, Administrators, Specialists SituationsTools, routines, structures 25 25

26. Leadership Theory (iterative, cumulative; principles + judgment) Name, categorize and analyze ideas and underlying issues Redirect with conceptual frameworks, Dimensions and theories Challenges of leadership practice Data and analysis Analysis and reflection Around results Act towards a problem or challenge

27. How to support them?

28. International collaboration OAS and IAELN Inter-American Educational Leadership Network

29. Hemispheric community pushing sustainable, continuous innovation Market State Educational Leaders Community NGOs

31. … Innovative leaders from different fields and sectors… with a dedication to push relevant reforms of the educational system … a network of leaders through the Americas that are thinking and facilitating dramatic changes in schools and other educational institutions …especially for the most vulnerable sectors.

32. Research • Development • Direct exchange

33. WWW.GSE.UPENN.EDU/IAELN Virtual space

34. Webinars

35. Web-based simulations

36. Simulacros virtuales X

37. Professional Conferences UCEA, 2011

38. 1st joint international certificate Universidad Católica de Chile and Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania “blended” distance / onsite

39.  “Interamerican professional learning community”

40. Thanks! Michael Johanek, Ed.D. Senior Fellow Graduate School of Education University of Pennsylvania johanek@upenn.edu www.gse.upenn.edu/faculty/johanek

41. Ministerial Dialogue Prof. Mario Mora Quiroz Viceminister of Institutional Planning and Regional Coordination Ministry of Public Education of Costa Rica FOURTH PLENARY SESSIONEducational institutions as communities of learning: the context for effective teaching VII Meeting of OAS Ministers of Education Suriname 1-2 March 2012