How To: Leading Through Learning Behaviors
By: Etienne R. LeGrand, CEO, Vivify Performance
Last week we examined how shared behaviors fuel school district culture, and this week we put this analysis into action with steps you can take to benefit from defining shared behaviors.
Teachers benefit from shared behaviors, too. Instead of spending time devising individual classroom behaviors and rules, they could rely on established district behaviors, using classroom time when necessary to reinforce their significance to learning and to make agreements with their students about meaningful consequences and rewards.
Of course, students also need to see their teachers and the other adults in their orbit behaving in accordance with these guidelines (since they watch adults and are more inclined to do as they see, not as they’re told).
Learning happens when skilled, prepared teachers who respect and care whether their kids learn and develop collides with curious, prepared students who have some control over their learning. These students also have opportunities to learn with others and who build competence and a sense of accomplishment.
Under even the best of circumstances, kids will misbehave, disrupting the magic of learning from time to time. But, “rules of the road”—learning behaviors—that help kids learn how to learn will reduce behavior disruptions and resultant disciplinary responses, creating greater cohesion among students and teachers and higher levels of student and teacher engagement. High engagement is an essential ingredient for learning.
The Role You Play
If your school district lacks shared learning behaviors, ask your principal and superintendent about their plan to establish these for your district. Then ask about their plan to create the conditions for them to thrive. Deciding you’ll behave a certain way going forward without taking intentional steps for that behavior to flourish is a waste of time.
Meanwhile, you can do more of the following:
Demonstrate respect for your students by learning to correctly pronounce their names and get to know them by learning of their hopes, dreams and fears.
Don’t be mean, just mean what you say – threats without action are meaningless.
Call your students’ parents consistently with more good news than bad news.
Incorporate learning behaviors like active listening, positive emotional behaviors, humility and curiosity into your grading rubric.
Use every opportunity to showcase how you and your students think to solve problems.
Acknowledge your students’ efforts and willingness to take risks within the context of learning.
Working and learning from the same playbook of defined learning behaviors is essential for kids to learn how to learn. Having shared behaviors can reduce disruption and incoherence while increasing the odds students are treated equitably. Teaching is challenging work, but it can be made a little easier when it is enabled by a culture that defines the behaviors everyone needs to acquire and hone in order to learn and perform.