Instructional Leadership and the Teaching Gap

“The teaching gap we describe refers to the differences between the kinds of teaching needed to achieve the educational dreams of the American people and the kind of teaching found in most American schools. Although many of the American teachers we observed were highly competent at implementing American teaching methods, the methods themselves were severely limited.

The teaching gap becomes even more significant when one realizes that while other countries are continually improving their teaching approaches, the United States has no system for improving. The Unites States is always reforming but not always improving. The most alarming aspect of classroom teaching in the United States is not how we are teaching now but that we have no mechanism for getting better. Without such a mechanism, the teaching gap will continue to grow.”

The Teaching Gap, Stigler and Hiebert, 2009 (pp. xviii-xix)

Stigler and Hiebert conducted a major study of teaching and provide some important guidelines that have implications for instructional leaders.

So this is the deep end...

So this is the deep end…

Finding #1: Teaching, not teachers, is the critical factor. Teachers cannot be effective if the methods they are using do not promote better student learning.

Finding #2: Teaching is a cultural activity – while teaching methods vary greatly from country to country, the teaching methods used by teachers in the same country are very similar.

Finding #3: They discovered a gap in methods for improving teaching. While American teachers have been trying their best to implement reform measures and recommendations, there is little evidence that the teaching has substantively changed.

The relationship of the teaching gap to becoming a better instructional leader is based on trying to solve the problem of how to improve teaching. In 1999, Stigler and Hiebert set the stage for improving teaching across the United States by proposing six principles for what they called “gradual, measurable improvement”.

Principle #1: Expect improvement to be continual, gradual, and incremental.

Principle #2: Maintain a constant focus on student learning goals.

Principle #3: Focus on teaching, not teachers.

Principle #4: Make improvements in context. The context for making improvements is complex and includes the teachers, students, curriculum, grouping, scheduling, and resources. All of these elements, and others that impact the classroom, must be considered when trying to improve teaching methods.

Principle #5: Make improvement the work of teachers

Principle #6: Build a system that can learn from its own experience.

“School learning will not improve markedly unless we give teachers the opportunity and support they need to advance their craft by increasing the effectiveness of the methods they use.”

The challenge here for the Teacher Librarian is the teaching part of their role. An experienced Teacher Librarian should have a classroom teaching background to provide validation for their participation in instructional leadership and the provision of professional development to showcase current pedagogical practice and lead change.

 

References:

Stigler, J. W., & Hiebert, J. (1999). The teaching gap: Best ideas from the world’s teachers for improving education in the classroom. New York: Free Press.

Also:

Research Gate – slide presentation

 

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