Laura Proven

TE 807

Thinking Outside the Box

The theme that resonated most with me in the readings for this week is that successful schools
and teachers should think outside the box. This was most prevalent in Empower Teachers
Who Break the Mold by Frances Miller, and this article spoke to me because I felt I could relate
to it. Positive Deviants, as Miller calls them, are those who embody this quality of straying
from the norm in order to provide high quality education for their students. These progressive
teachers push the limits of traditional methods and the normal way of doing business in
teaching (13). I thought it was interesting that Miller discusses how this can sometimes cause
conflict among colleagues because the positive deviants can be viewed as threatening to other
teachers (13). I can see how this might happen because the ways people have thought about
education really have not changed much in decades. For veteran teachers who have been using
methods they believe have been effective, it would be intimidating and likely upsetting to hear
that they are no longer performing as highly as they thought. I was glad the article addressed this
as a possible issue and offered suggestions on how principals and the staff can resolve it.
Walter Parkers International Education: Whats in a Name? focuses on this new, outside-thebox idea of international education. He mentions that the whole idea behind the push for
international education is for the United States to keep up in the level playing field of the global
economy (198). While America used to be a world leader and dominant force, the world is
shrinking and becoming increasingly flat (197), and we are no longer as competitive as we
used to be. I have to say, I was glad to see Parker say, There is no small amount of magical
thinking in the claim that schools can save society, since schools themselves are embedded in
society (198). I agree that schools may be considered more of the caboose than the engine of
the train that drives societal change (198), and that he quoted Cremin as saying it is foolish to
blame schools instead of those who are truly responsible for competitiveness (or lack thereof)
(199). The education system has become an easy targetsomething for people to jump on the
bandwagon of blame. While I do strongly believe that there needs to be some educational
reform, and while I think that approaches like international education can help obtain the edge of
competitiveness, I do not believe that schools should have to take the brunt of all responsibility
for the countrys downfalls. I liked how Parker discussed cosmopolitanism, and how identifying
oneself as a citizen of the world breaks the old habit of loyalty of a nation and being defined
by local origins and membership (200). It is very important for students to see themselves as
not just citizens of their classroom, or neighborhood, or country, but also as members of global
world. Overall, I think the link between the two articles is that changes need to be made in
schools, but only changes that benefit students directly and are being implemented with good
intent. The real difference is that while the Miller article focused on a smaller, individual level,
Parkers focused on a larger, societal level.
I think good teaching is hard to identify as one particular quality. If I have to sum it up, I think
that good teaching looks different when it is entirely student-centered. It is easy to talk about
using student-centered practices and try to implement them, but when I see someone who truly
creates, plans, and implements teaching strategies solely around the needs of her students, I can
tell she is a good teacher. I worked with a few teachers like this during my internship, as the
principal in my building held high expectations for the entire staff to be progressive. When the

Laura Proven
TE 807

needs of each individual student is being considered and ultimately met, it is tough to imagine a
teacher could be doing much more than she already is.
I do not currently have my own classroom, as I am still looking for a job, but I think through my
experiences this year I did learn some things about myself as a teacher. The most important
thing that I learned is how easy it can be to slip into routines. I am someone who has always
appreciated routines, and they can be extremely beneficial for students. However, it became easy
to plan my units using the same type of process as the ones I used in planning previous units, and
I had to keep reminding myself that students have different strengths and weaknesses, and they
have different interests. What worked for a unit on geometry might not work for a unit on
algebra. Even though routines for things like the daily schedule are important, I think its also
necessary to switch things up sometimes and take risks based on what the students need. In this
sense, I can relate to some teachers who are afraid to march to the beat of a different drummer,
because it was sometimes hard to even recognize that I was falling into more traditional methods
of teaching. Ive learned that although I consider myself someone who teaches in studentcentered methods, I still need to remain aware of my teaching style and adapt it sometimes to
accommodate different learners.