Perfect World

Each year around this time, a Perfect World survey appears in our staff bulletin, and I always wonder about the efficiency of the whole attachment-print-fill out-and return process.  I have never thought much of it, except for that.  It is an expected gift to all Windsor High School teachers, and for the last five years, I have mindlessly written "no change" in the request line.  This year, as if by magic, that little survey appeared in the midst of my existential professional mid-life crisis, and so I turned to Twitter for guidance.  New to the platform, I never considered the [immensely inspiring] time suck factor.  I was also completely ignorant to the endless resources and networking possibilities.  Holy goldmine.  I am completely inspired and motivated.

This year, when the survey came, I waited.  I wanted change, but didn't have a vision.  I had so much research to do.

My 5 years of "no change" were not stagnant, but they weren't progressive either.  Nueva blossomed into a model CTE AME program with a strong team and a "successful" model for arts integration and project based learning.  But, a program is only successful if it is sustainable--if it can exist in different contexts with different teachers.  The current structure is too dependant on teachers' willingness to work beyond their contract, to run extra classes, to supervise rehearsals, and to navigate the inefficient district paperwork protocol.  It is also dependant on the $58,000.00 in categorical state grant funds that come in every year.

A true model program must be self contained and movable.  It must be 100% authentic, experiential, and flexible enough to adapt to different student needs. It must be properly staffed and supported by the site and district administrators.

It is time to redesign Nueva, but to do so, I need to be deliberate and well researched.
I would like to use this forum to vet some of the articles and resources I come across.  I hope to engage in dialogue with progressive educators and leaders in educational reform as I explore possibilities for structural changes in my classroom.  I seem to have the admin support I need [for now], which makes anything possible.

As a first step, we decided to give the Perfect World survey to the students as a design thinking challenge around re-organizing and structuring the learning environment.  We are also exploring a model that allows for co-teaching and authentic PBL modules.  So far, no resistance, but I have always been one to ask for forgiveness rather than permission.

The Perfect World survey represents a small bite of hope in the strange dysfunctional bureaucracy called public education and unlike past years, I plan on taking full advantage of the opportunity.