|
Throughout the school district, the Cranford Public Schools are gradually applying an
instructional model we call "Teaching for Understanding." Derived from elements
of Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, our model is also greatly
influenced by the work of Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, as developed in their
Understanding by Design (ASCD, 1998).Teaching for Understanding starts with clear
targets or understanding goals: What are the concepts, processes and skills that we want
our students to understand? We need to know where we want students to end up. Having a
clear picture of the final destination helps focus activities toward that goal. A key
component of this process is developing essential questions that focus attention on the
"big ideas," the important concepts, principles and skills of a topic. Essential
questions help us to guide students in understanding a topic, thereby avoiding superficial
and purposeless coverage of material.
Designing lessons for understanding begins with what we want students to learn and
proceeds to the evidence we will accept that they have learned it. Wiggins and McTighe
call this process of beginning with the end in mind "backward design." The
expectation is that students will come to possess more than knowledge; if they really
"get it," they will be able to do something with the knowledge. Consequently, we
define understanding as being able to take knowledge and use it in our lives.
Assessing student understanding becomes a matter of requiring students to do more than
simply recalling information and giving back "the answer." They will need to
offer explanation, link specific facts with larger ideas, justify the connections and
interpret the results. In short, Teaching for Understanding involves more than just
getting students to pass test. Through carefully developed lessons, students will be well
guided toward acquiring deeper understandings of skills, concepts and principles that they
can apply and use in their lives.
Teaching for Understanding is not a new idea. This framework represents what effective
teachers have always done: use sound instructional practices to provide students with
worthwhile experiences in order to enhance their learning and achievement.
For more information on Cranford Public Schools professional development offerings in
Teaching for Understanding, see course
descriptions or the professional development schedule.
^TOP^ |
|
|
Since the 2000-2001 school year, each year a small cohort of teacher volunteers have been
selected to be part of this project, which provides specialized equipment and materials
that teachers will integrate into classroom instruction through the Teaching for
Understanding design process. Such equipment and materials may include such things
as digital cameras, wireless laptop computers, interactive Internet-enabled electronic
whiteboards, furniture helpful to collaborative learning, and supplemental computer
software. Participating teachers have completed the district's foundation Teaching
for Understanding Seminar, and go on to take intensive additional training in Teaching for
Understanding, as well as supplemental training in technology integration.
Participating teachers develop and share model units using the Teaching for Understanding
design template.
^TOP^
|
|
|
As part of the New Teacher Collaborative, two one-day introductory workshops are provided
to all teachers new to Cranford (one for elementary teachers and one for secondary
teachers).Individual schools and departments also periodically offer specialized
workshops in Teaching for Understanding that meet the needs of their particular faculty.
Grants and special projects have made available additional supplemental workshops,
on-site and at a distance, by Grant Wiggins, to which district faculty have been invited.
As part of the Professional Development Schools program, Cranford has done introductory
training in Teaching for Understanding to the faculty of Seton Hall University's School of
Education and Human Services, and Teaching for Understanding concepts have begun to be
integrated into some Seton Hall education courses as a result.
^TOP^
|
|
