Programs + Pedagogy = Success

Educational conferences take place several times throughout the school year, practically every season offers a plethora of new strategies to learn. Administrator’s start each school year with a new vision, new goals, and often times a new program. Sometimes these programs are simply strategies that need to be implemented, other times they are major overhauls that require support.

One of the school administrator’s most important duties is to serve as an instructional leader. In addition to choosing a program or strategies to adopt, it’s important to consider the training that goes with it. Strategies without an implementation plan are simply words on a lesson plan. How teachers integrate strategies into their pedagogy greatly impacts the intended outcome of the plan.

Three things to consider before adopting a new program for your school:

1. What’s required to support my program? These requirements range from considering the learning curve of your staff to contacting various district departments. Let’s face it, your staff is unique and what works for the school across town may not be the best fit for your building. A new set of tablets is cool, but rendered useless if your district isn’t prepared to support them.
2. How will I sell this to my staff? Marketing ideas to get teachers to buy in is a must. The same way district mandates come off as a little “cold”, so does pushing ideas without the input of your staff. Although most principals are familiar with students and data is available, teachers are in the trenches. Teachers are the ones that know the specifics first hand about the students they teach. Their opinions, knowledge, and input is valuable and could save you some money that would be wasted on an unsuccessful program.
3. Will ongoing professional development take place? A program without a pedagogical plan is pointless. Regardless of the experience level, all teachers should be trained to teach with the end in mind. It’s important to assess what a successful implementation will look like. In addition to identifying what success looks like, it’s important to communicate that vision in a consistent manner. The best place to monitor and communicate that success is by ongoing professional development.

The old cliche says, “A failure to plan, is a plan to fail.” Thoroughly plan your next program adoption using backwards design, start with the end in mind. What factors do you consider when considering something new for your school?