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WHOLE SCHOOLING RENEWAL
Ways School Staff Can Use the
Six Principles for School Improvement
By
Michael Peterson
November 6, 2003
The Six Principles of Whole Schooling provide a vision regarding how to structure a learning
environment most conducive to growth among diverse children and youth. School staff, along
with collaborating partners may utilize these Six Principles and tools developed by the Whole
Schooling Consortium to facilitate school improvement.
Schools use Whole Schooling as a guiding model for school improvement in a variety of ways.
Following are some examples:
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Using self-assessment tools by a grade level
team in an elementary school or interdisciplinary
team in a middle school to guide self-analysis
and planning.
Designing of professional development programs
Reflection and self-analysis by individual
teachers or administrators regarding practice in a
classroom or an entire school.
A school staff adopts the Whole Schooling
principles and forms study / action teams based
on one or more of the Six Principles.
Teaching students and parents about the Six
Principles of Whole Schooling and using
existing tools to provide parent input and
creating ways to incorporate student input into school-wide study themes.
As is evident, rather than providing complex, prescriptive plans, Whole Schooling renewal
relies heavily on what is most powerful in helping improve schools-- staff dialogue and learning
about their vision, concerns, and needs for improving student learning and developing school
structures and supports to make this possible. At the school level, Whole Schooling identifies
needs for an overall school culture, support structures, and policies that support all children
learning together, well. But Whole Schooling focuses primarily on the classroom -- instruction,
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building community, organizing the classroom for learning and diversity, and more. The aim is
to support dialogue and engagement that empowers teachers, parents, and students. Below we
describe some of these strategies.
Key questions
Central to planning for school renewal using the Six Principles of Whole Schooling is the
agreement of the staff that the Six Principles provide a valuable and needed set of goals towards
which the school should move. If this is true, then all involved with the school - teachers and
other staff, parents, and students - may consider the degree to which the school as a whole, as
well as individual classrooms, are based on the Six Principles of Whole Schooling and develop
strategies for improvement. Following are examples of key questions that will be addressed with
action plans.
1. Providing authentic multi-level instruction. To what degree are instructional strategies used
in the school to help students with very differing ability levels learn well together? Are there
teachers who are using exemplary strategies? How might they assist other teachers in the
school? What assistance does the school staff need in learning how to do multi-level
instruction?
2. Including all. Who is in the school? Who is not? Where are students who would typically
come to this school? How might the school connect its students to other students with diverse
characteristics (important for schools without racial or ethnic diversity)?
3. Empowering in a democracy. To what degree are multiple constituencies involved in
making significant school decisions? How are students involved? Do students have multiple
opportunities for daily decision-making, choices in their studies, opportunities to use power,
involvement in resolution of conflicts?
4. Building community. Does a sense of community pervade the school at all levels – staff,
parents, children? What specific strategies are used? How might the school strengthen
community through concrete, specific strategies? Is there a commitment to children with
social-emotional challenges and problems? Is positive behavioral support integrated into
schooling and classroom practice? How might the school strengthen community and ways to
proactively meet the social and emotional needs of children?
5. Supporting learning. Are support staff being used to support students in the general
education class? Do they work as a support team for the entire school addressing academic,
technology, social-emotional, medical, and other needs of students? Do they work with
teachers to improve authentic, multi-level instruction, building community, and using
positive behavioral supports in the classroom?
6. Partnering with families and the community. To what degree do parents feel a partnership
with staff, particularly parents of students with high challenges – those with disabilities and
highly able students? To what degree are the resources, gifts, and talents of parents and the
local community used to strengthen learning? How might the school break down the barriers
between school staff, parents, and community?
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Presentation and Staff Dialogue Regarding Whole Schooling
Brief written documents and Powerpoint presentations are available that provide an overview of
the need for Whole Schooling and the Six Principles of Whole Schooling. We have found it
useful to provide an overview for staff and then to divide the school staff into six groups, one for
each principle. Each group is asked to use the open-ended questionnaire - Whole Schooling:
Strengths and Needs of Your School - to identify strengths, needs, and possible strategies for
improvement related to the principle to which they are assigned. Each individual brainstorms on
the form and the group records it’s answers on chart paper. All groups then report back to one
another, sharing their results and asking for additional input from the rest of the staff. The group
then reports back. This information can be typed and recorded and can often become a key
starting point for an action plan for school improvement.
Developing a Vision and Action Plan for the School: MAP & PATH
A particularly powerful tool for use with a staff is to engage the staff in developing a vision for
the type of school they would like to be and an action plan to move in that direction. Two tools
developed have been found particularly useful: (1) MAPS (Making Action Plans) and PATH
(Falvey, Forest, Pearpoint & Rosenberg, 1998). These tools are often most helpful after staff
have been introduced to the Six Principles of Whole Schooling as these principles provide
stimulus for an expanded view of schooling and teaching. Both MAPS and PATH provide tools
by which a group of individuals may develop a vision or dream, consider present barriers,
identify strengths and resources, and develop an action plan by which to move forward. As a
collaborative planning process, MAPS and PATH have served as powerful process by which to
bring together a staff around a common vision and goal, bonding as challenges, history, and
strengths are shared.
School-wide Adoption of Whole Schooling
When a school adopts the Six Principles of Whole Schooling this can provide a powerful,
ongoing school-wide focus to drive the creation of a renewed learning environment. Schools use
differing procedures for school-wide adoption of programs, projects, or initiatives. At best, staff
develops a consensus that the Principles of Whole Schooling reflect the type of school they
would like to become, consensus being defined, not as total agreement, but a willingness of all to
work together rather than derailing efforts at change.
Informal Reflection and Action
The most informal level by which the Six Principles of Whole Schooling may be used is to
present information to staff, provide resources and tools, but both allow and encourage each
individual to develop and implement individual goals and strategies. Some administrators, for
example, have used the descriptive materials on Whole Schooling and tools such as the Whole
Schooling Self-Assessment and Action Planning Guide to reflect on their school and consider
ways to develop committees, study groups, or other strategies to address needs. They might do so
without involving others in using these tools or even sharing the influence of Whole Schooling
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ideas while engaging staff. Similarly, a teacher might use this or a similar tool to engage in
reflection on his own classroom.
Team Self-Assessment and Action Planning
Tools may be used in more public and systematic ways involving teams or the entire school staff
in conducting a self-assessment and engaging in action planning. This may be done several ways
using a range of tools developed by the Consortium. Three tools are available:
Whole Schooling: Strengths and Needs of Your School. This tool involves an open-ended
questionnaire organized by the Six Principles of Whole Schooling. It asks individuals to make
narrative comments regarding strengths and needs related to school-wide and individual
classroom practice related to each principle. Individuals may also provide ideas for change or
improvement strategies. When these are completed, the narrative comments can be compiled and
organized by each principle. The assessment may focus school-wide, on individual classrooms,
or clustered by teams For example, the third grade teachers, or the science department in a high
school may conduct a team assessment.
Whole Schooling: Self-Assessment and Action Planning Guide. This tool provides a listing for
each principle of school-wide and classroom practices that we would expect to see if a principle
is being followed (column on the right) and those we would hope not to see (column on the left).
The respondent can simply identify practices used in the school or classroom on either side of the
column. The tool prompts and suggests exemplary and problematic practices and can be used
almost as a menu of problems and possibilities.
Whole Schooling Self-Assessment Rating Scale. This tool also is organized by the Six Principles
of Whole Schooling. A variety of items intended to reflect exemplary practice are listed for each
principle and the respondent rates the school, or individual classroom, using a 5 point Likert
scale where 1 is low and 5 is high.
Using information for analysis and action planning. Information that is compiled for the school
can be distributed to the entire school staff and used in a variety of ways. The school
improvement team may look at this data and use it as the basis for a strategic action plan.
Similarly, school teams may utilize the information to understand strengths, areas of need, and
develop strategies for improvement.
School capacity and assets
All learning and growth, including the improvement of schools and teaching, is centered in
building on strengths. Sometimes educators feel beleaguered and without support and assistance.
However, any school possesses a wealth of resources. This simple open-ended tool is designed to
capture capacities and assets of the total staff and parents in the school. The tool asks individuals
to list and briefly describe assets they have related to each of the Six Principles of Whole
Schooling which they would be willing to share with others. Such assets may include abilities
and skills, resources to which they have access, or materials and tools which they can use. This
information is then compiled and put into a Resource Directory for the School. It can become a
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tool for person-to-person connections, a source of resources for staff development, and a way of
building increased appreciation among all involved.
Study / Action Teams based on the Six Principles of Whole Schooling
As the school identifies areas of need, study / action teams may be developed. These might be
organized based on the Six Principles of Whole Schooling or sub-divisions of these principles.
For example, a school might be particularly concerned with both math and literacy instruction.
They may organize a team designed to help improve “authentic, multi-level instruction” in each
of these areas. The school should carefully consider, however, developing working groups that
address the social-emotional foundations for learning – including all, building community (along
with positive behavioral supports), supporting learning, and partnering with families and the
community. This is particularly important since these areas often receive too little attention.
Study / action teams may collect data related to the issue they are investigating, read materials
together, discuss implications for practice, go to a conference or school site visits together,
identify new strategies to try with students, and engage in reflective dialogue about daily
practice, all aimed at creating positive change.
Involving students and parents.
Students themselves can be involved in helping to make the school and classroom a better and
more effective place. As teachers and parents use practices associated with the Six Principles of
Whole Schooling, students will be learning much. However, students can also be involved in
explicit ways. Middle and high school teachers may ask students and parents to complete one of
the school-wide self-assessment tools. For elementary children, staff may want to take these
ideas and put them in simpler text and use pictures as well. Teachers might hold focus groups
with children in their classes, or perhaps teachers conducting such discussions in each others
classes. This could be a particularly powerful way for a grade level team in an elementary school
or interdisciplinary team or 'house' in a middle or high school to obtain powerful information
from students. Focus groups could also be held with parents using one of the Tools as a focal
point of dialogue.
Professional Development
The Six Principles of Whole Schooling, in association with strengths and needs assessments
described above, may also be used as a template for developing local professional development
opportunities and identifying conferences and other external professional development events
available in a local area.
Individual development plans.
The Whole Schooling Teacher Self-assessment tool is designed to assist staff in conducting a o
conduct a self-assessment of their own strengths and needs related to the Six Principles of Whole
Schooling. This information can be used to set individual professional development goals and
seek professional development opportunities to increase skills and capacities in areas of need.
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Critical friend
Many approaches to school reform rely heavily on a relationship between a school and a
knowledgeable, trusted individual who can bring new questions, ideas, resources, and strategies
to a school from the outside. Often such individuals are university faculty or staff of intermediate
school support organizations supported either through grants or consulting relationships with the
school. Critical friends can assist and be involved in any of the processes described above.
Critical friends should spend time in classrooms, getting to know teachers, the principal, parents,
and students so they have a sense of the culture of the school and it’s strengths and needs.
Critical friends can faciliate important dialogue both within formal gatherings as well as informal
interactions.
Innovations Networking
A very powerful tool for learning and growth are opportunities for educators to visit different
schools and classrooms that exemplify positive practices related to the Six Principles of Whole
Schooling. Teachers can visit the classrooms of other teachers, observing and discussing
strategies with the host teacher. If schools have conducted a Capacity and Assets Analysis, this
information can be used with other schools to identify strengths which can be shared across
schools and school districts.
Local Whole Schooling Consortium
The Consortium is connecting with interested individuals, schools, universities, and other
organizations to establish local groups who are interested in working together to promote the Six
Principles of Whole Schooling. Such a Local Whole Schooling Consortium may involve a wide
range of individuals and schools. However, it is possible, perhaps advisable, to start small. A
Local Whole Schooling Consortium should at least be composed of: (1) one school involving at
least one educator, a parent, and a student; and (2) one university faculty member who is willing
to serve as a critical friend. At best, over time, a local Consortium may involve:
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A series of elementary, middle, and high schools.
Multiple faculty in universities representing differing areas of expertise.
A network of interested and engaged parents and students.
A local Consortium may engage in many activities to include:
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Ongoing school renewal work using strategies discussed above.
Innovations Networking of schools, teachers, parents, students, and administrators
Conferences and professional development seminars
Research and development projects collaboratively between university faculty and school
staff, organized around the Six Principles of Whole Schooling.
Connection of pre-service to ongoing professional development as a partnership of
universities and schools organized by the Six Principles of Whole Schooling.
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Whole Schooling Materials and Tools
The following materials and tools are available for use in your school. All may be downloaded at
www.wholeschooling.net. In addition, you may contact the Consortium office to obtain a CD,
the Whole Schooling Tool Kit, that will contain all of these and other documents as well as
Powerpoint presentations, complete with Quicktime video clips of classrooms. Email
[email protected].
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5.
6.
7.
Whole Schooling: Powerpoint presentation (without movie clips)
Whole Schooling: Strengths and Needs of Your School (Open-ended questionnaire);
Assets and Capacity Inventory;
Whole Schooling: Self-Assessment and Action Planning Tool
Whole Schooling Self-Assessment Rating Scale.
Whole Schooling Teacher Self-assessment
Whole Schooling Website: www.wholeschooling.net This website provides a wide range
of resources including an overview of Whole Schooling, publications, links for resources
related to each principle, video clips that illustrate classroom practices, and information
regarding related projects and initiatives.
8. Whole Schooling Listserv. Some 200 people have joined this listserv to date to engage in
dialogue related to issues associated with Whole Schooling principles and practices.
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