"Getting Centered—Institutionalizing Cultural Knowledge Through Collective Learning" Chapter Seven (Lindsey et al, 2009)
“Establishing knowledge sharing practices is as much a route to creating collaborative cultures as it is a product of the latter. This means that the organization must frame the giving and receiving of knowledge as a responsibility and must reinforce such sharing through incentives and opportunities to engage in it.”
—Fullan, 2003, p.86
Fullan’s (2003) quote captures what it means to institutionalize cultural knowledge. Schools are responsibility for creating conditions and putting structures in place to facilitate collaborative cultures. Once cultural knowledge is institutionalized, it then needs to be maintained, which is perhaps a bit more challenging.
At my own site, we have attempted to do this through horizontal teams, where we collaborate collectively, review and assess student data, review student progress, and plan and adjust lessons.
Three Key Learnings:
1) Strategies for institutionalizing cultural knowledge and collective learning.
2) How to create shared conditions for collective learning.
3) The shift from individual learning to “collective learning” or “team based learning”.
Three Quotes:
1) “Collective efficacy implies that together we can make a difference” (p.111).
2) “Successful learning teams strategically avoid getting stuck in a downward spiral of negative, difficult statements and questions that serve as barriers to moving forward to improve educational practice and pose breakthrough questions to address the statements and questions” (115).
3) “Culturally proficient learning communities are intentional in learning about students’ and parents’ cultures” (p.118).
Three Questions:
1) How to create on-going incentives and opportunities for collective engagement to develop shared cultural knowledge?
2) How to communicate and better serve the cultural groups within our school community?
3) What does a continuous improvement inquiry model look like?
Overall, chapter nine involves a shift in thinking in terms of transforming traditional learning communities from individual learning to collective collaborative learning in order to “institutionalized” cultural knowledge.
—Fullan, 2003, p.86
Fullan’s (2003) quote captures what it means to institutionalize cultural knowledge. Schools are responsibility for creating conditions and putting structures in place to facilitate collaborative cultures. Once cultural knowledge is institutionalized, it then needs to be maintained, which is perhaps a bit more challenging.
At my own site, we have attempted to do this through horizontal teams, where we collaborate collectively, review and assess student data, review student progress, and plan and adjust lessons.
Three Key Learnings:
1) Strategies for institutionalizing cultural knowledge and collective learning.
2) How to create shared conditions for collective learning.
3) The shift from individual learning to “collective learning” or “team based learning”.
Three Quotes:
1) “Collective efficacy implies that together we can make a difference” (p.111).
2) “Successful learning teams strategically avoid getting stuck in a downward spiral of negative, difficult statements and questions that serve as barriers to moving forward to improve educational practice and pose breakthrough questions to address the statements and questions” (115).
3) “Culturally proficient learning communities are intentional in learning about students’ and parents’ cultures” (p.118).
Three Questions:
1) How to create on-going incentives and opportunities for collective engagement to develop shared cultural knowledge?
2) How to communicate and better serve the cultural groups within our school community?
3) What does a continuous improvement inquiry model look like?
Overall, chapter nine involves a shift in thinking in terms of transforming traditional learning communities from individual learning to collective collaborative learning in order to “institutionalized” cultural knowledge.
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