0.4 The art of successful school-based management  (Page 10/36)

In watching the students and teacher work together one trait consistently emerges as essential to a caringand authentic school: Empathy. Empathy can become value in that it represents a guiding principle for the school culture. Empathy isthat interpersonal quality that allows one to know the feelings of another (Kelehear, 2001; 2002). As students work with each other,as teachers work with the students, and as the principal assists the teacher, the level of empathy present defines the qualitativerelationship. And at the same time, the participants cultivate a sense of caring in the relationship as they began to understand thecommitment in working together toward shared goals. In as much as caring becomes a part of the school climate, the relationshipsbecome more substantive and paying attention to each other becomes the order of the day. A process by which we can begin to shape apositive school culture might begin as school based leaders realign the role of four key players in the school day: the student, theteacher, the leader, and the curriculum.

Given the powerful influence on standardized assessments, federal mandates, and state-level oversight, it iseasy to reduce students to input/output items rather than see them in their humanity. In his book Schools Without Failure, WilliamGlasser (1969) emphasizes that allowing grades to create an incentive for learning has, in fact, a contracting effect on whatis learned. The more that grades, and by extension standardized tests, are emphasized the more that students want to know what isexactly on the test, and only those items on the test. Students come to believe that any other information can become an obstacleor a distraction to getting the grade, and thus should be ignored (p. 65). Effective school leadership will recognize that there is arole for grades and standardized testing. Indeed, they can help provide accountability for learning certain bits of information.But to rely solely on grades and traditional assessments is painfully shortsighted.

School based leaders can build a school culture that shines light on authentic student learning and staffprofessional growth. One way to construct such a climate is to place emphasis on what Ted Sizer (1992), in his book Horace'sSchool, calls exhibitions. This type of assessment helps encourage students to bring together facts and basic learning to create a newunderstanding–what Mortimer Adler (p. 29) called maieutic expression. A word of Greek origin, maieutic is loosely translatedas "giving birth." Just as an artist might be able to use the elements of art to paint a still life, it is the artist's use ofthose "skills" and the simultaneous interpretation of that object through experience and feelings that can give birth to a newperspective, a new understanding, a deeper cognition (Eisner, 2001). Similarly, other aspects of the curriculum could have thesame consequence.

School leaders and teachers must help students come to command facts and information, the kind of information thatis readily assessed through pencil and paper tests and standardized assessments. Quickly, however, students begin to use the newlyacquired information in applications of the concepts through repeated practice and coaching; just as the artist begins tocommand the elements of art. Although many very good teachers might guide students to this level of mastery, this is not enough.Through demonstrations, exhibitions, or other public forums, teachers should encourage students to create a new, deeperunderstanding, a maieutic expression. The student's knowledge and understanding takes on what Eisner (1994) calls "a social dimensionin human experience" (p.39). But teachers and students will only be able to do such authentic practice when the environment in general,and school leadership in particular, supports such practice.