Although most educators embrace a particular teaching and learning innovation, district- or schoolwide change is harder to achieve. One major roadblock is garnering parental support. This obstacle exists because schools see themselves as stand-alone entities in charge of administering a transformation and expect parents—as outsiders—to adapt to the change.
Sustainable change, however, requires a transformation in how everyone thinks about learning and teaching, including the community beyond a school's walls. In the last five years, Clarkston Community Schools faced these challenges as it adopted the Cultures of Thinking (CoT) educational approach across the district.
Confronting Resistance
The CoT approach, which originated at Harvard University, is a teaching and learning framework that develops students' thinking dispositions. Unlike traditional school-reform frameworks, the fundamental objective of education with the CoT approach is to develop students' thinking skills and thought processes as they master content. Whether individual or collective, thinking processes are valued, visible, and actively promoted in CoT classrooms. Teaching shifts to make time for thinking, to develop and use the language of thinking, and to create a classroom environment that honors thinking.
Learning how to think takes time, and worksheet scores cannot easily communicate progress. Parents in our community were used to seeing immediate outcomes and a predictable arc of their child's progress. Because the CoT approach involves a more subtle and iterative learning process, parents did not fully understand it and misconceptions flourished. Many saw it as just another fad that excludes—rather than complements—traditional learning. They expected to be in control of their child's education by monitoring homework and reviewing daily worksheets, but the CoT approach deemphasizes both of those practices. It was a step into the unknown; discomfort and resistance were palpable in our parent community.
Creating a Shared Vision
In a CoT classroom, teachers and students apply "thinking routines," which are easy-to-use patterns of action that make otherwise undetectable thinking processes visible so that students can improve these skills. As we introduced thinking routines in our classrooms, we realized we could use them to help parents better understand the philosophies behind our cultural shift. We started by creating a shared vision for what we wanted our students to become as a result of time spent in our schools. At back-to-school nights, teachers posed an open-ended question to parents: "What qualities do you want your child to have at the end of this year?" Regardless of the school or grade level, responses were similar: parents wanted their children to be curious, independent, confident, and creative, and they also wanted them to be kind, understanding, and empathetic. These shared goals allowed us to introduce parents to the thinking dispositions of reasoning with evidence, exploring viewpoints, finding complexity, making connections, questioning and investigating, and observing and describing encounters. These dispositions form the foundation of four thinking ideals: understanding, truth, fairness, and creativity. Our goal to use the CoT approach to develop these dispositions and ideals aligned with parents' own objectives for their children.
To keep parents connected to this shared vision and demonstrate how students develop habits of mind and thinking dispositions throughout the school year, many teachers chose to communicate through a website or e-mail newsletter. They focused on making students' thinking visible so parents could see how the CoT approach was taking root. Teachers often shared pictures or short videos of thinking practices in action and stories of everyday successes.
At the district level, administrators worked with PTA leaders to help them better understand the intended cultural shift. PTA leaders were then able to promote the philosophy, seek feedback from parents, and communicate parental perspectives to administrators.
Showing the Vision in Action
However, true engagement and buy-in for the CoT approach really occurred when parents could directly connect the theory behind the approach to what was happening in the classroom. Teachers held open classroom events, where children used the language of thinking to make their thinking visible, demonstrated their thinking dispositions, and engaged in discussions and reasoning beyond their parents' expectations.
For example, as they went through their rounds of sharing in Readers' Workshop, 2nd grade students modeled the Micro Lab Protocol (designed to ensure equal participation within group discussion). Students were expected to listen attentively to fellow students, make connections, and build upon others' ideas. Effortlessly, 8-year olds made connections and reasoned with evidence, using such phrases as "I think that this is a good observation because …," "I agree with this because …," or "I've noticed the same thing in a different part of the book. I think this shows …" For some parents, these experiences alone were enough for them to become ardent supporters of the CoT approach.
That same day, teachers also asked parents to engage in thinking routines as a means of generating feedback on the cultural changes they witnessed in the classroom and what they felt was needed to further support the transformation. Teachers used the "I Used to Think/Now I Think" thinking routine and asked parents to reflect on how their own thinking had shifted as a result of their classroom experiences. Many parents noticed the positive effects of the CoT approach and commented on the dramatic difference in their own perception of their child's confidence level and ability to reason. They also noted a high level of engagement, interest, and collaboration within a CoT classroom and mentioned that the entire atmosphere felt different.
Community support for the CoT approach grew over time as students continued to show strong habits of mind. Instead of rushing to share their opinions or supply the right answers, students were more inclined to listen and think. Parents noticed a shift in their child's use of the language of thinking as well as their ability to apply knowledge in new ways. Parents even began adopting some of the language of thinking that abounds in CoT classrooms when discussing with their kids what problems they tried to solve and what their thought processes were that day. Our shift was now their shift, too, expanding beyond the classroom and into the entire school community.
Sharing Our Future
A year ago, in an effort to further communicate the CoT approach, our district partnered with a local public television station to produce the Future of Learning series, a collection of classroom visits and interviews with such renowned thought leaders as Ron Ritchhart and David Perkins, as well as district educators, parents, and students. The series addresses many important aspects of education and the role of the CoT approach in helping children become successful, confident individuals who are capable of independent thinking and learning. This series is now the most watched show on the station.
There are thousands of necessary steps in orchestrating a districtwide cultural transformation. But Clarkston Community Schools has learned that such change is only possible when parents and educators embark on the journey together.