As the visionary businessman opines, change can take on a logical form once you have your hearts set on improvement. The first step towards improvement is usually the hardest and accepting that there is scope for improvement. Even the best models for teaching and learning need to be updated according to the changing times. Once you realize that there is a lot that you can do about it, you are a part of the process of improving it for the better.
Take the case of educational levers, for example. As an educator, it is but natural to be frustrated with the students constantly thinking, āI need an expert essay writer“. It can lead to self-doubt when you wonder whether you are doing enough for the pupils.
However, the trick is not to let those feelings get the better of you. If you feel there needs to be a firmer plan in place that may help you overcome issues in the classroom, maybe you need to check if you are using the educational levers right.
There can be many levers for improving education and the infrastructure of providing the same, but you need to identify the ones that work best for your situation and work out a plan to implement them in your class as well as the whole schooling system.
What are the levers for improving education?
The practice of bringing about ways of improvement ā including the plan and measures of implementation ā are called educational levers. You can bring about a sea of change if you can implement them appropriately in your educational setting, truth be told. Almost everyone involved with education industry ā from school administrators ā puts into practice the educational levers that help in improving the overall condition of the teaching and learning atmosphere by introducing the right tools and methods needed for improvement.
Levers use designs such as standardisation and sampling to identify the areas of improvement required in classrooms so you can design it in a way to plug the holes. However, if used wisely, they can be much more than a stop-gap practice that educators fall back on in times of crisis.
Levers are more of a philosophical framework set into motion due to the factors of change inside a classroom or a school administrative setting. They come handy when in need of assembling the building blocks to create a strategized lesson and administration plan.
Once we discuss the three most essential levers that you can use for classroom improvement, youāll see what we are talking about, especially about standardising practices and bringing in the winds of change.
3 essential levers for improved classrooms
Stimulating learners and motivating them to take positive actions in class, upholding the spirit of the class and driving pupils to do better in studies fall under the role requirements of every teacher in this world.
If you are one of them, know that you belong to that much-respected section of the society that is responsible for helping minds bloom and shaping perceptions and ideals. The power that you have to develop the world is perhaps unparalleled, and you can harness it even better by implementing the following educational levers for classroom improvement.
1. Observational levers
Observational levers include three key elements that are crucial in creating a well-formulated plan for bringing in classroom improvement.
a. Data:
Data speaks for itself. Preparing analysis based on the observations that you make, you can unlock the doors to which factors need improving in your classroom. Make sure that you have the right tools for analysis when dealing with data. For example, you can use the data presented in the forms of report cards that show you which pupils might be needing extra attention and the ones who are right on target when it comes to learning.
b. Observations:
Observations are crucial for both the learner as well as the educator. Keeping an eye out for the thing and factors to observe carefully in your day-to-day activities is vital when it comes to implementing the levers of educational improvement. For the most effective implementation of observations, you can always create a teachersā group to meet for weekly feedback sessions on lessons and the plans for the weeks that lay ahead.
c. Samples:
Samples are the observations that you collect during the time when looking for signs of improvement. You can easily create a sample from a class of, say, 30 pupils. They will be the data to work on, depending on their progress and lesson intake. You can treat the sample as the first stepping -stone to effective planning for your lessons in the future.
2. Instructional levers
Instructional levers work on two primary factors that help in drawing the roadmap to success in classrooms, and they are as follows.
a. Strategies and plans
Strategies and plans form the crux of teaching in case of most educators. Teachers used to keep journals for planning lessons before BlackBerry brought on the revolutionary organiser in its digital form. Nowadays, most have made the smart switch while a few still hold on to their journals. Whatever be your preferred form of keeping track of exactly how you plan to go about a lesson to be taught in class, you must make sure that you have one in the first place.
Chunk up the lesson in sizeable portions, make sure that you identify the key aspects that learners must grasp through what you aim to teach, and keep it as cost-effective as possible in terms of using learning resources.
b. Training and development
Training and development is a factor to be considered for the teachers in a school. At the beginning of each session, it is important to make sure that you all are aware of all the responsibilities that you must take up as well as the specifications of the lessons that you are to impart. However, this should not only stay limited to the start of the session. As a continual process of training and development goes on, you will be able to pick up the pace as needed, identify and improve the areas that need improving when going about the year.
3. Cultural levers
Finally, the cultural levers that make the teaching community so strong and undaunted are as follows. This needs to be implemented for ensuring a friendly and encouraging workplace as well learning environment.
a. Managing time
Managing time efficiently so that educational levers can be in place for making progress towards improved classrooms is also essential. Make sure that you keep a schedule for every aspect of the educational levers. Do not skip feedback meets for anything. Keep a time aside for observing students when in class and handling the other cultural factors of educational levers all the while. It is best to merge the lever routine with the one that you work on daily so that all the tasks in a day are right in front of your eyes that you can take a peek into as and when needed.
b. Developing ethos
Developing ethos in your students can easily be done by instilling in them the values of respect and tolerance. Repetitive tasks such as greetings at the beginning and end of the class help them grow some factors of ethos, and you can further strengthen the same by using the positive rewards system.
For example, whenever you see a student abiding by the school rules or helping out a classmate, arrange a mini-felicitation for the good Samaritan of the class and give them a flower or a brand new eraser as a token of appreciation. This will help the other kids understand the value of developing similar ethos factors as well.
c. School culture
Finally, revamping the school culture and totally changing the way that teachers, as well as students, view the matter of absenteeism and burnout is also essential in bringing about the much-needed winds of change. The school culture that you belong to also has areas of improvement, and with proper efforts, you will be able to bring about the welcome change that ensures the optimum use of the resources at your disposal. Identify the areas that need to be improved and the ones that are already stellar so that you know which areas to take as exemplary factions that make way for developing the others.
Wrapping it up
With the proper mindset and a well worked out plan, there is hardly anything that you will not be able to achieve. Keep in mind the levers for improvement that we discussed and see how it fits into your classroom framework. Take small steps towards implementing the levers and little by little, you will be amazed at how much progress you can pack in with your concerted and undying efforts. Good luck!
Author bio: Ammie Jackson provides unmatched essay help services for students who struggle with their academic tasks. Formerly a visiting lecturer of psychology at a reputed university in Sydney, she enjoys writing blogs in her pastime and going for long walks with her golden retriever, Fred.
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