Finnish Way: Working for Curricular Design & Teacher Collaboration Opportunities

1. Finnish Way: Working for Curricular Design & Teacher Collaboration Opportunities Rob Reynolds Middle School Mathematics Teacher Distinguished Fulbright Awards in Teaching Recipient Seattle, Washington September 2013

2. Some Background Information • Rob Reynolds • Mathematics and Science Teacher • Peace Corps, Zaire, Central Africa, 2 years+ • Three Public Schools, Chicago, 17 years • Instructional Mathematics & Science Coach, Chicago, 4 years • Fulbright Action-Based Research Project, 6 months • My original Fulbright Research Project • Rigor of assigned mathematical tasks • Student discourse solving the mathematics • Students’ representation to demonstrate understanding

3. Project Design • Visit 10 schools, 2-3 times • Establish relationships through return visits • Observe mathematics instruction • Collect data of mathematics task, teacher decisions, student engagement • Conduct interviews • Teachers • Students • Principals

4. Curricular Design • Finland • National Curriculum • Role of Standardized Assessments • Impact at Classroom Level • Observations • Time built into teachers’ school day • Flexibility for Planning & Instruction • Less or More Actual Instructional Time? • Teacher-written textbooks

5. Curricular Design • United States • Common Core State Standards (CCSS) • Standardized Assessments, role & time • Impact at Classroom Level

6. Curricular Design –Work for Opportunities… • United States (Washington State?) • How much flexibility is built into instructional planning with CCSS implementation? • How can more time be built into the instructional days (or year) when teachers are not supervising students? • How can we minimize the quantity, time-drain, or at least impact of standardized assessments?

7. Teacher Collaboration • Finland • Teachers have 3-5 daily coffee breaks when they typically connect with colleagues socially • Coffee breaks provide endless opportunities to plan future collaboration • Time built into instructional day & week for teachers’ work • (Common) Space dedicated to teachers’ work • Resources in place to facilitate teachers’ work

8. Teacher Collaboration • United States (Washington State?) • School schedules, at least at the elementary levels, have all students start/end at same time • Typically, besides a daily preparation period, teachers are teaching & supervising students for the instructional school day and week • Teachers’ weekly planning time is often circumvented by administration’s priorities

9. Teacher Collaboration • Teachers typically use substantive personal evening and weekend time with instructional planning or administrative responsibilities • Teachers devote considerable work time with the logistics of instructional planning • What barriers can you identify?

10. Teacher Collaboration-Work for Opportunities… • School Schedules • When can time be identified to collaborate? • Who determines/prioritizes the agenda? • What is the expectation? • Teachers’ Work Areas • Where, if ever, do teachers meet? • How welcoming is the Teachers’ Lounge? • What access do teachers have to professional facilities & resources?

11. Next Steps • Let’s continue the dialogue... • I believe both parents of our students and the U.S. State Department are listening and interested.

12. Kiitos! Rob Reynolds rlreynolds@cps.edu www.mathfinnway.blogspot.com (my Fulbright project blog) www.fiveinfinland.blogspot.com (my wife’s blog of our family adventures)