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The Intractable Pull of Nuts & Bolts
Some thoughts on oppositional system dynamics
For a variety of reasons, I find myself thinking a lot about system dynamics recently. Specifically, I see to be attuned to how school system dynamics can work against the values and priorities that have been established in good faith by the people who work in that school. Let’s take an example from my current working life around how my school has operationalised Professional Learning Communities (PLCs).
What PLCs Look Like at My School
As per our school’s stated priorities, PLCs are the fundamental unit of pedagogical action in my school. Any course that is taught by more than one teacher is planned and executed through a PLC that meets once a week for 55 minutes. Our school has particular requirements for how a PLC must operate. PLCs handle all of the nuts & bolts of our courses (common course plotting, assessment structures, and lots of other aspects of instructional planning, etc.). We are also expected to use the PLC structure to get at more finessed considerations of how best to meet the needs of students (analysing problems of practice related to the course, strategising on how to help students in need, ways to provide enrichment, etc.). When I first came to my school, the PLC model was organised around the four questions put…
