Instructional practice means many things to many people. As I reviewed definitions from multiple sources, I found myself coming back to the definition from the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources(1). Their definition states:
“Instructional Practices focus on specific teaching methods that guide interaction in the classroom. These effective practices have been identified through research on student learning. Best Instructional Practices are like vehicles used by teachers to efficiently move students forward in their learning.”
Building Quality
This begs the question, are we maintaining our vehicles to prevent the check engine light from coming on? Working with our WDLC partners, I find it fascinating to learn how each program defines the role of the teacher and the instructional practices they use in their online programs. Together we wrestle with the challenges and successes our online learning environment presents. Most recently we took on the challenge to dig into quality. Instead of filling out a rubric with a set of standards, we focused on the critical questions we should be asking that drive quality based on the needs of our local program. What we found was a common set of questions we all ask in an attempt to build quality. We minimize the frequency of our check engine lights coming on when we proactively address these questions with purpose. When we ignore or forget
to maintain these key questions we find the check engine light pops on more frequently.
Leaning on the definition above, what vehicles are we selecting and do we effectively maintain our vehicles (instructional practice) before our check engine light comes on? Do we use the right vehicle for the right job? Do we proactively rotate the tires, change the oil, schedule engine tune ups, and change our windshield wipers? As drivers of our vehicles are we informed and trained to leverage the many options our vehicles have? If we cross walk this to our online environment, do we select the right method for the right need and are we enabling teachers with varying methods of instructional practice to meet the needs of their students effectively? Or are we guilty of using digital technology and the vendors responsible for product development as the reason our check engine light is on. Do we simply take the internet, digital curriculum, learning management systems, and other digital tools used off the shelf all of which should support the instructional practice not be the instructional practice? We must continue to strive towards continuous improvement to mitigate the risk of our check engine light indicating we need a major repair because of our own doing. The answer doesn’t come to us on a silver platter and it comes with many variables based on student population, mission and vision of the program, demographics, budgets, etc.
Online programs are very similar to vehicles in that we have different engines that power the vehicles we use and we have different interior selections that influence the experience of those on board. In our space, we may find different approaches, strategies, and definitions of instructional practices. However, we do have common underlying critical questions we must reflect on continuously.
Reflecting for Continuous Improvement
We would like to share a new resource with you, call it an owner’s manual to help ask the right questions to ensure that you are maintaining your instructional vehicle with diligence. This resource is a document developed by the WDLC in partnership with Evergreen Education founder and CEO John Watson titled, “Reflecting for Continuous Improvement, Planning for Quality 2.0.(2)” This document benchmarked more than a dozen frameworks and standards nationally to find common themes. Knowing programs have varying needs makes it take a challenge to rely on standards due to the number of variables involved.
Instead of working towards compliance with a set of standards, we turned these standards and frameworks into themes and questions that challenge educators to slow down and:
reflect on the critical conversation
focus on a few areas of improvement
decide where you have an opportunity to improve
create next steps
identify the right team members who can contribute to the continuous improvement efforts
This can be done in one of three ways: self review, local team review, or a peer learning network.
We don’t change the oil once in the lifetime of a vehicle. It requires continuous monitoring every 3,000–5,000 miles. Don’t wait for your check engine light to pop on and catch you off guard. Take some time to review the role of the educator and reflect upon how you establish instructional practices using some of key questions you find on page 11 of the “Reflecting for Continuous Improvement” Playbook. Reflect, focus, decide, create, identify, and establish a SMART goal that you can work towards in the attempt to elevate instructional practice in the online space. Enjoy the ride, detours and all.
(1) “Best Instructional Practices.” Best Instructional Practices, Library of Congress, www.tpsnva.org/teach/best_practices/.
(2) Wisconsin Digital Learning Collaborative and the Digital Learning Collaborative. (2019). Reflecting for continuous improvement: Planning for quality 2.0. Retrieved from https://www.wiwdlc.org/case-studies.