STLinSTL 2019

At Blair Academy, the single most powerful thing we have done in the last five years to change our culture of teaching and learning has been to express in writing a deep, thoughtful reflection of what we are trying to accomplish as a school.

In the fall of 2018, the academic leadership of Blair Academy -- department chairs and administrators -- returned to school with the goal of creating shared language to describe effective teaching at our school. Combining the scholarship of Charlotte Danielson with our faculty's deep understanding of Blair's mission and school culture, we found words to affirm the work of teachers at every experience level and inspire faculty to identify and build on areas of strength, so as to cultivate in-house expertise and instructional leadership. By partnering with a faculty committee, we were able to include nearly half the faculty in the process of creating our six-page framework; what's more, we were able to complete the job by the end of the calendar year.

In this session, we will share the process that yielded this document, the many lessons we learned along the way, and the avenues to innovation that this process has opened for us. Participants will gain practical experience using Blair's framework to reflect on teaching practices in their own schools. We will also guide participants through a few early brainstorming steps intended to help participants who may be interested in creating such a framework.