The Six Principles of Whole Schooling provide a vision regarding how to structure a learning environment most conducive to growth among diverse children and youth. Schools may utilize these Six Principles and tools to facilitate school improvement in a variety of ways which we describe below. You can download the contents of this page as a Word document.
As is evident below, rather than providing complex, prescriptive plans, Whole Schooling renewal relies heavily on what is most powerful in helping improve schools -- the development of Professional Learning Communities in which staff dialogue about their vision, concerns, and strategies for improving student learning and discuss needed school-wide programs, structures and supports. The aim is to support dialogue and engagement that empowers teachers, parents, and students. Mike Schmoker in a recent article in Phi Delta Kappan clearly articulates the need for such teacher- and parent-empowered approaches to improving schooling and teaching. Below, we discuss strategies and approaches that may be useful in focussing engagement of the school learning community.
Presentation and Staff Dialogue Regarding Whole Schooling
Developing a Vision and Action Plan for the School: MAP & PATH
School-wide Adoption of Whole Schooling
Informal Reflection and Action
Team Self-Assessment and Action Planning
Study / Action Teams based on the Six Principles of Whole Schooling
Involving students and parents.
Comprehensive
Whole Schooling Renewal
Central to planning for school renewal using the Six Principles of Whole Schooling is the agreement of the staff that the Six Principles provide a valuable and needed set of goals towards which the school should move. If this is true, then all involved with the school - teachers and other staff, parents, and students - may consider the degree to which the school as a whole, as well as individual classrooms, are based on the Six Principles of Whole Schooling. Teams may then develop strategies for improvement. Following are examples of key questions that will be addressed with action plans.
Presentation and Staff Dialogue Regarding Whole Schooling
Brief written documents and Powerpoint presentations are available that provide an overview of the need for Whole Schooling and the Six Principles of Whole Schooling. We have found it useful to provide an overview for staff and then to divide the school staff into six groups, one for each principle. Each group is asked to use the open-ended questionnaire - Whole Schooling: Strengths and Needs of Your Class and School - to identify strengths, needs, and possible strategies for improvement related to the principle to which they are assigned. Each individual brainstorms on the form and the group records it’s answers on chart paper. All groups then report back to one another, sharing their results and asking for additional input from the rest of the staff. The group then reports back. This information can be typed and recorded and can often become a key starting point for an action plan for school improvement.
Developing a Vision and Action Plan for the School: MAP & PATH
A particularly powerful tool for use with a staff is to engage the staff in developing a vision for the type of school they would like to be and an action plan to move in that direction. Two tools developed have been found particularly useful: (1) MAPS (Making Action Plans) and PATH (Planning Alternate Tomorrows with Hope) (Falvey, Forest, Pearpoint & Rosenberg, 1998). These tools are often most helpful after staff have been introduced to the Six Principles of Whole Schooling as these principles provide stimulus for an expanded view of schooling and teaching. Both MAPS and PATH provide tools by which a group of individuals may develop a vision or dream, consider present barriers, identify strengths and resources, and develop an action plan by which to move forward. MAPS and PATH are powerful, collaborative planning processes by which to bring together a staff around a common vision and goal, bonding as challenges, history, and strengths are shared.
School-wide Adoption of Whole Schooling
When a school adopts the Six Principles of Whole Schooling this can provide a powerful, ongoing school-wide focus to drive the creation of a renewed learning environment. Schools use differing procedures for school-wide adoption of programs, projects, or initiatives. At best, staff develop a consensus that the Principles of Whole Schooling reflect the type of school they would like to become, consensus being defined, not as total agreement, but a willingness of all to work together rather than derailing efforts at change.
Informal Reflection and Action
The most informal level by which the Six Principles of Whole Schooling may be used involves providing resources and tools to allow teachers and administrators to develop and implement individual goals and strategies. Some administrators, for example, have used the descriptive materials on Whole Schooling and tools such as the Whole Schooling Self-Assessment and Action Planning Guide to reflect on their school and consider ways to develop committees, study groups, or other strategies to address needs. They might do so without involving others in using these tools or even sharing the influence of Whole Schooling ideas with staff. Similarly, a teacher might use a tool to engage in reflection on his or her own classroom.
Team Self-Assessment and Action Planning
Tools may be used
in more public and systematic ways involving teams or the entire school
staff in conducting
a self-assessment
and engaging
in action
planning. This may be done several
ways using a range of tools developed by the
Consortium.
Three tools are
available:
Whole Schooling: Strengths and Needs
of Your School. This tool involves
an open-ended
questionnaire
organized
by the Six Principles
of Whole
Schooling.
It asks individuals to make narrative
comments regarding strengths and needs
related to
school-wide and individual
classroom practice
related to each principle.
Individuals may also provide ideas
for change or improvement strategies.
When
these are completed,
the narrative
comments can be compiled
and organized by
each principal for school-wide issues
and individual classrooms, clustered
by teams,
for example,
third grade teachers, or the science
department in a
high school.
Using information for analysis and action planning. Information that is compiled for the school can be distributed to the entire school staff and used in a variety of ways. The school improvement team may look at this data and use it as the basis for a strategic action plan. Similarly, school teams may utilize the information to understand strengths, areas of need, and develop strategies for improvement.
All learning and growth, including the improvement of schools and teaching, is centered in building on strengths. Sometimes educators feel beleaguered and without support and assistance. However, any school possesses a wealth of resources. This simple open-ended tool is designed to capture capacities and assets of the total staff and parents in the school. The tool asks individuals to list and briefly describe assets they have related to each of the Six Principles of Whole Schooling which they would be willing to share with others. Such assets may include abilities and skills, resources to which they have access, or materials and tools which they can use. This information is then compiled and put into a Resource Directory for the School. It can become a tool for person-to-person connections, a source of resources for staff development, and a way of building increased appreciation among all involved.
Study / Action Teams based on the Six Principles of Whole Schooling
As the school identifies areas of need, study / action teams may be developed. These might be organized based on the Six Principles of Whole Schooling or sub-divisions of these principles. For example, a school might be particularly concerned with both math and literacy instruction. They may organize a team designed to help improve “authentic, multi-level instruction” in each of these areas. The school should carefully consider, however, developing working groups that address the social-emotional foundations for learning – including all, building community (along with positive behavioral supports), supporting learning, and partnering with families and the community. This is particularly important since these areas often receive too little attention. Study / action teams may collect data related to the issue they are investigating, read materials together, discuss implications for practice, go to a conference or school site visits together, identify new strategies to try with students, and engage in reflective dialogue about daily practice, all aimed at creating positive change.
Involving students and parents
Students themselves can be involved in helping to make the school and classroom a better and more effective place. As teachers and parents use practices associated with the Six Principles of Whole Schooling, students will be learning much. However, students can also be involved in explicit ways. Middle and high school teachers may ask students and parents to complete one of the school-wide self-assessment tools. For elementary children, staff may want to take these ideas and put them in simpler text and use pictures as well. Teachers might hold focus groups with children in their classes, or perhaps teachers conducting such discussions in each others classes. This could be a particularly powerful way for a grade level team in an elementary school or interdisciplinary team or 'house' in a middle or high school to obtain powerful information from students. Focus groups could also be held with parents using one of the Tools as a focal point of dialogue.
The Six Principles of Whole Schooling, in association with strengths and needs assessments described above, may also be used as a template for developing local professional development opportunities and identifying conferences and other external professional development events available in a local area. Whole Schooling Teacher Self-assessment tool is particularly useful for this purpose.
The Quality Teaching for ALL: Self-Assessment Rating Scale. tool is designed to assist individual staff in conducting a self-assessment of their own strengths and needs related to the Six Principles of Whole Schooling. This information can be used to set individual professional development goals and seek professional development opportunities to increase skills and capacities in areas of need.
Many approaches to school reform rely heavily on a relationship between a school and a knowledgeable, trusted individual who can bring new questions, ideas, resources, and strategies to a school from the outside. Often such individuals are university faculty or staff of intermediate school support organizations supported either through grants or consulting relationships with the school. Critical friends can assist and be involved in any of the processes described above. Critical friends should spend time in classrooms, getting to know teachers, the principal, parents, and students so they have a sense of the culture of the school and it’s strengths and needs. Critical friends can facilitate important dialogue both within formal gatherings as well as informal interactions.
A very powerful tool for learning and growth are opportunities for educators to visit different schools and classrooms that exemplify positive practices related to the Six Principles of Whole Schooling. Teachers can visit the classrooms of other teachers, observing and discussing strategies with the host teacher. If schools have conducted a Capacity and Assets Analysis, this information can be used with other schools to identify strengths which can be shared across schools and school districts.
Comprehensive Whole Schooling Renewal
Orientation
Guide for Whole Schooling Renewal.
A guide for using the principles
of Whole Schooling in a comprehensive school improvement process. This
document
provides additional detail for the summary process described below.
1. Getting started: Engagement. The school agrees to adopt the Six Principles of Whole Schooling as the guiding framework for school improvement. The school joins the Whole Schooling Consortium and agrees to collaborate in learning from others and contribute to the Consortium.
2. Whole Schooling Renewal Steering Committee. The school forms a working group to guide the process, oftentimes an existing group such as the School Improvement Team. This team functions democratically to learn and guide the entire process.
3. Develop a Whole Schooling vision for the school. The Steering Committee will plan a process involving all stakeholders in each schooldesigned to develop a vision for the school based on the principles of Whole Schooling. We have often used the MAPS process (Making Action Plans) as a simple but powerful process to develop a vision and initial action plan.
4. Whole Schooling Self-Study: Identify strengths, needs, and priorities. The school will conduct a self-study based on the Six Principles of Whole Schooling. Essentially, school staff will ask these questions: "To what degree are we already implementing each of the Five Principles of Whole Schooling? What are particular strengths and positives? What are areas of concern and need? What do we need to do to make the vision for our school real?"
5. Develop and implement a plan for change. The Steering Committee will facilitate the change process with the School Improvement Team selecting a range of strategies to use to facilitate staff growth, dialogue, and change. These may include:
Local Whole Schooling Consortium
The Consortium is connecting with interested individuals, schools, universities, and other organizations to establish local groups who are interested in working together to promote the Six Principles of Whole Schooling. Such a Local Whole Schooling Consortium mayt involve a wide range of individuals and schools. However, it is possible, perhaps advisable, to start small. A Local Whole Schooling Consortium should at least be composed of: (1) one school involving at least one educator, a parent, and a student; and (2) one university faculty member who is willing to serve as a critical friend. At best, over time, a local Consortium may involve:
A local Consortium may engage in many activities to include:
Whole Schooling Materials and Tools
The following materials and tools are available for use in your school. All may be downloaded below or in the Whole Schooling Tool Kit on this website. In addition, you may contact the Consortium office to obtain a CD, the Whole Schooling Tool Kit, that will contain all of these and other documents as well as Powerpoint presentations, complete with Quicktime video clips of classrooms. Email wholeschooling@comcast.net.
1. Whole Schooling: Powerpoint presentation (This must be mailed on a CD).
2. Whole Schooling: Strengths and Needs of Your School (Open-ended questionnaire);
3. Assets and Capacity Inventory;
4. Whole Schooling: Self-Assessment and Action Planning Tool
5. Whole Schooling Self-Assessment Rating Scale.
6. Quality Teaching for ALL: Self-Assessment Rating Scale.
7. Whole Schooling Website: www.wholeschooling.net This website provides a wide range of resources including an overview of Whole Schooling, publications, links for resources related to each principle, video clips that illustrate classroom practices, and information regarding related projects and initiatives.
7. Whole Schooling Listserv. Educators and parents throughout the world have joined this listserv to engage in dialogue related to issues associated with Whole Schooling principles and practices.
Michael Peterson, 2007