Discovering a Balance in Instruction

I liked this article because I think it saw the need for a balance between the standards and creativity, BUT it saw that such a balance is a very difficult thing.

WCPSS stresses the curriculum. You cannot really teach a lesson that does not directly relate to an objective from the NCSCOS. However, you will not be helping to nurture 21^st century learners that will be productive members of the community if you do not cultivate the students’ creativity. The author notes that the “standards focus on basic skill level” (Burke-Adams, 2007, p. 59) which does not allow for very much in the way of differentiation. What if your class is slow and needs more time? What if your class has far surpassed this? Are we not to meet our students where they are? How does that correlate with the pacing guides and objectives/standards?

I liked that the author suggested some strategies for fostering creativity such as technology, creative writing, and creating portfolios. I think the idea of portfolios is particularly important when considering gifted identification. As I found when doing my “Alternative Identification” project last semester, I found that the gifted identification process does very little to account for skills that are not testable through a multiple choice test. If we show no value of originality in the identification process, how can we then cultivate it if these students are qualified to be served?

In lesson planning, “teachers must show evidence that content standards are the focus of the lesson and students are expected to connect the lessons they are taught to the standards. Although this focus benefits goal and objective writing for lessons and ensures necessary content is covered, no criteria for including creative or innovative methods that integrate high-level thinking skills are mandated” (Burke-Adams, 2007, p. 62). Teachers are required—at the sake of their JOB!—to relate every objective of the lesson to a standard, but nowhere does it say anything about creativity or originality, or high interest… THIS IS SO WRONG! Standards are “safer,” but not alone better. I have no problems with having standards to hold teachers accountable. However, this should NOT come at the expense of allowing teachers and students to be innovative. (See the cookie-cutter article from earlier.)

As you can see, this is something that I feel passionately about. I hope as my teaching career continues that the powers at be (whoever they are) can see that standards ARE important, but that there are other ways to hold teachers accountable that allow teachers to be as creative and original as we expect our students to be.