Virtuoso at Work: What Schools and Systems Can Learn From Excellent Teachers

• In Event: 14.044 - Roundtable Session 1
  In Roundtable Session: 14.044-13 - Educational Change and the Work of Teachers

Abstract

This study examined three secondary schools in Massachusetts to identify when, how, and why, students practiced higher level cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal skills, known as deeper learning or 21st century skills. Schools were at least 25% low SES, outperformed demographic peers on state exams, and revealed, through a previous study, a schoolwide commitment to instruction for deeper learning. Data included classroom observations, focus groups and public documents. Findings include 1) teacher conceptions of 21st century skills varied widely; 2) instruction for deeper learning was present in a minority of classrooms; 3) In classrooms fostering deeper learning, teachers drew on a deep repertoire of teaching strategies, demonstrated acute social-emotional awareness, and employed assessments that were intellectually demanding and performative in nature.

Authors

• James H. Nehring, University of Massachusetts - Lowell

• Megin Charner-Laird, Salem State University

• Stacy Agee Szczesiul, University of Massachusetts - Lowell