Conversation Three: What do we want to achieve?
Ultimately, the vision you have for your learning environment and your co-teaching should align with your school’s wider vision. Heading in the opposite direction will create tension, mistrust, and wasted effort. A great starting point is to explore your school’s vision for teaching and learning and unpack what that means for you as a team. Are there particular expectations around teaching and learning that you absolutely must align with? What are they? Are there other aspects of practice that you personally feel particularly strongly about? How can you turn those into goals for yourself and your team? Consider: What kind of atmosphere do you want in your learning spaces? What’s your vision for teaching and learning? What kinds of relationships with students do you want to foster?
“If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up someplace else.”
Playbook Preview:
Complete the ‘Success Headline’ activity to convert common themes into team goals, or
Use ‘The MoSCoW Method’ to set out your goals for the year:
The MoSCoW Method
Must:
“What must we do?”
(What absolute essentials do we need to do this year to ensure our students succeed? What key school expectations do we need to align with?)
Could:
“What could we do?”
(What ideas or innovations could we try if capacity allows? Which ideas inspire us but don’t need to happen immediately?)
Should:
“What should we do?”
(What would significantly improve our co-teaching practice if we committed to it? Where can we move from “good enough” to “better” this year?)
Won’t:
“What won’t we do?”
(What practices might stop us from succeeding this year? What might distract us from our core priorities?)
Further Reading:
Fullan, M. (2014). The Principal: Three Keys to Maximizing Impact.
Sinek, S. (2009). Start with Why.
Atkin, J. (1996). From values and beliefs about learning to principles and practice.
Key Takeaways:
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Teams that are aligned with the wider school vision are more likely to have a common definition of success and less likely to feel confused about what they’re trying to achieve.
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Describing what a typical day might look like or what you would see or hear when quality learning is taking place will help you to achieve it.
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There will typically be many ways to achieve a valued outcome. Focus on clearly defining success; don’t get tangled up in how to achieve it. That will come.