The Devil is in the Differentiation

Public education is in an engagement crisis. One of the most common concerns I hear from teachers is that their students are not engaged. If you gather a group of experienced principals together and talk to them about their top roadblocks to transformation on their campus, a lack of teacher engagement will be at or near the top of the list. According to Gallup research in 2012 only one in three U.S. teachers, K-12, are engaged in their job. Principals and district level leaders are not immune to disengagement. At almost any meeting or professional learning session all one has to do is look around the room and see a variety of folks engaged with their electronic device and not in the topic at hand.  Disengagement is a killer of learning and productivity at every level! How do we turn this around?

Some would argue that we could address this through punitive measures. Teachers continue to take points away for late work, record zeros for undone assignments and keep disengaged students after school. Principals document teachers who are unmotivated and not taking care of students and other professional expectations.

Others would argue that we can motivate others best through reward systems. Many schools, including mine, have token economies and prize structures to recognize positive behavior. Teachers give bonus points or extra credit for students who scramble at the last minute for a passing grade. A jeans pass for teachers is the order of the day for staff rewards. Some school systems offer staff members merit pay for what is seen as exceptional performance based upon test scores.

What we do know is that these external motivators do increase the level of behavioral engagement or compliance. This is not enough. Quiet classrooms and cooperative employees are no guarantee for student achievement or staff engagement. We must move beyond mere compliance if we want to maximize everyone's potential.  What we need is cognitive engagement. Creativity and critical thinking live here. So how do we reach people so that they are motivated intrinsically to engage at a meaningful level?

Daniel Pink does a fine job of shining a light in the dark places surrounding what motivates people. He shares research that shows that extrinsic motivators, like money, increase performance for linear tasks and those that require mechanical skills.  The same does not hold true for high level thinking tasks. 

Pink describes three factors that lead to better performance. (Click here to see the video) These are autonomy, mastery and a sense of purpose. If you are struggling to engage others ask yourself these questions:

• How am I providing choice for those I wish to engage?
• How am I determining where people are in terms of their competencies and support them on their journey to achieve mastery?
• What am I doing to make this work tie into a larger purpose?

I believe that these three areas speak to the need to personalize learning.  When it comes to personalizing learning, the devil is in the differentiation.  I hold Carol Ann Tomlinson as my top influencer when it comes to understanding what differentiation is and what it is not.  She has produced a number of books and other resources that will support interested educators seeking to become more masterful.  There are two key characteristics that she identifies for instructional consideration that align well with Pink’s research.  Tomlinson describes “interest” as what the learner enjoys learning about, thinking about and doing.  If we can give the learner the autonomy to choose, we are drawing from what drives from within.  A second characteristic that Tomlinson describes is “readiness.”  Readiness can be defined as the learner’s current knowledge, understanding, or skill set related to the learning target.  Establishing readiness provides a starting point for us to begin growing others toward mastery.  Human nature tends to predispose us to enjoy the things we are good at.  When we support growing our learners from where they are toward mastery, we again draw on their internal motivation and increase engagement. 

In the paragraph above I was purposeful in choosing the descriptor, “the learner.” Many would assume I am referring to students and the need for teachers to personalize their instruction.  This idea is bigger than that.  It applies to all of us at every level in the education world.  It is the highest form of hypocrisy when leaders ask others to do what we are unwilling to do. This is not easy work, given limited resources, time constraints, and the factory model that constrains much of our system.  These constraints define the box that we must innovate within. 

If we hope to break the trend in which shifting demographics are the best predictor of student achievement, we must differentiate to personalize learning for our students.  If we are to ameliorate the crisis of teacher disengagement, we must differentiate to personalize their professional learning.  If we are to engage education leaders and empower them to model this practice, personalization is again a must. 

I am encouraged that the State of Texas is moving to a system that has the potential to support the type of personalization we all deserve as educators.  If used appropriately as a tool for reflective practice, the proficiency scales embedded within the teacher system, T-TESS, have great potential.  These rubrics will provide the structure to have instructional conversations that are deeper and more focused than ever before.  It appeals to me that, as a principal, I will have the same type of scale to give direction to my personalized learning through the T-PESS framework. It is so powerful when our practices and expectations align at every level.  

Like most growth that leads to positive change, this will no doubt create discomfort for us all.  Are you willing to do the hard work and lean into this discomfort as a teacher...principal...central office administrator?  We are all charged with becoming the designers of engaging experiences. I am committed to fully engage in this work for my staff.  Let's model what we want for ourselves, each other, and most of all, our students.  We ALL deserve it!  

Feel free to leave your comments/thoughts/ideas below.  This is a discourse worth having.  Let's talk!