Andrea Colvin

EDET 668

Philosophy of Adaptation

April 30, 2017

What is the Philosophy of Adaptation?

1. Your personal Vision statement.

My vision for my classroom, school, and district is to create an environment that models

21st century learning. The 21st century learning environment as explained by Thomas & Brown,

2011 is, the rich resources provided by the digital information networkwhere the context in

which learning happens, the boundaries that define it, and the students, teachers, and information

within it all coexist and shape each other in a mutually reinforcing way (Thomas & Brown,

2011, Location 335). When I think about 21st century learning, the idea of project based learning

comes to mind. This way of learning allows students to use critical thinking, communication,

collaboration, and creativity (Kay, 2014). I also think that 21st century learning incorporates

technology. For these two to work together, we need to know what we want the students to learn

and use technology devices with direction (Couros, 2012).

Another part of my vision comes from my moral purpose which is to do what is best for

students and know that all students can learn, it might just not be in the same way or the same

day. As a special education teacher, I share all of my students with other teachers. I think that my

"mighty purpose" is to educate them in a way that creates lasting experiences. I think that

through collaboration with the general education teachers, I can use my time with them not only

to reach their IEP goals, but do it in a meaningful way that connects with the rest of their

educational experience. In the past, I have been nervous to achieve greatness. This may come
from the part of myself that is scared to fail, but Burgess says that, "self-defeating attitude and

lack of self-confidence destroys all forward progress. You cant grow, advance, and move

forward without repeatedly stumbling and falling on your face" (p. 182). My vision for myself,

my school, and my district is collaboration and communication to insure that all students are

gaining access to the experiences that can shape them into beautiful people.

One way I can advance into having a 21st century classroom is by collaboration with the

general education teachers with whom I share students. Bringing in what the students are going

to do in their classrooms can prepare them to have the background knowledge or extra practice

needed to participate with their peers (Goldberg, 2012). One teacher talks about the project based

learning model at his school and the steps he took to make his students who were pulled out of

class have a successful experience. The steps followed this progression; changing the label of the

students, opened herself to new opportunities, and never water down for special needs and goals.

In the second step of opening himself to new opportunities, Hernandez (2015), states The

thought of planning projects solo, and then working on them with my students, was daunting. I

knew it would be extremely crucial to get involved with a grade level team for collaboration

(Hernandez, 2015). My vision for 21st century learning environments and collaboration between

teachers to make this happen is what I see as the goal and mighty purpose for my classroom and

for all students.

2. Your statements (supported by research) of how you believe teachers and leaders

adapt to change.

To adapt to change, first and foremost, we must have a solid moral purpose to drive the

decisions that are made. Fullan (2001) describes leadership that has a strong moral purpose must

have an explicit making-a-difference sense of purpose, use strategies to get people to tackle
tough problems, have measurable indicators of success, and awaken peoples intrinsic

commitment (p. 20). Having a common moral purpose can set the baseline for effective

conversations and communication. My moral purpose is to do what is best for the students and

the belief that all students can learn. Because so many teachers share this moral purpose, we can

make decisions on how to make our classrooms more effective. When change happens, there are

often disagreements between members. The people who disagree are necessary contributors to

effective change.

Fullan (2001) states, By supporting the like-minded, leaders trade off early smoothness

for later greif. If you include and value naysayers, noise in the early stages will yield later,

greater implementation (p. 75). It is important to remember that, the absence of conflict can be

a sign of decay (Fullan, 2001, p. 74), so we need to know how to work with a wide array of

people. Grant (2016) says that diverse teams tend to focus more on facts, process the facts more

carefully, and are more innovative. His reasoning for all of these is that a diverse team allows

you to dodge the costly pitfalls of conformity. He does caution that the team must be organized

to have inclusive practices so that every person feels heard.

Along with moral purpose and communication, leaders and teachers need to be in

mentoring relationships. As a leader, mentoring others is a way that communication can be very

productive and both parties can learn. Adult learners will learn the best in a mentoring

environment (Papa, 2011, p. 103). Mentoring scenarios allow for collaboration and

communication between adults. Adult learners become more productive when they are seen as

colleagues by their leaders and both can learn together (Pullagurla, 2014). A mentorship can

also target the way that each adult learns the best, this may be written or verbal, visually,

kinesthetic, or auditory (Papa, 2011, p. 103). Mentoring relationships are a way that leaders can
connect with everyone on the team. Llopis (2013), says in regards to how the most effective

leaders solve problems:

Breaking down silos allows a leader to more easily engage their employees to

get their hands dirty and solve problems together. It becomes less about corporate

politicking and more about finding resolutions and making the organization

stronger.

Fullan (2001) reiterates this over and over again in his text. Leaders who involve those

who actually face the challenges in decision making will see much more success than top-down

decision making. With strong moral purpose and time to collaborate, teachers can create ways to

improve because they know what they need (Sanford, 2013).

3. Your statements (supported by research) of how you can plan classroom instruction

to assist students in adapting to change.

Part of my vision statement includes educating children in a 21st century classroom.

Through this, the students need support in the right ways so that I can create lasting memories

and lessons for my students. Thomas & Brown (2011) say,

Students learn best when they are able to follow their passion and operate

within the constraints of a bounded environment. Both of those elements matter.

Without the boundary set by the assignment of playing the prelude, there would

be no medium for growth. But without the passion, there would be nothing to

grow in the medium (Kindle Locations 1055-1057).

As a teacher, we can help the students achieve this through problem based learning. In their text,

Tomas and Brown (2011) talk about how children play and imagination to cope with the amount

of new information they are receiving. This is in all areas of their lives. Thomas and Brown
(2011) state, In a world of near-constant flux, play becomes a strategy for embracing change,

rather than a way for growing out of it (Kindle Location 562). Students need time to play with

new technologies and learn through problem based learning how the world works.

To help students adapt to change, learning must be conceptualized for them. Bernard

(2010), says that when activities engage students and connect with what they already know,

long-term memory is saved. Students need context to find meaning in what we teach them.

Without it, they not only will find it pointless or boring, but they have no way to apply the

content. Eric Sheniger says in a Tedx Talk (2014) that there is a large disconnect between school

and real life. Our students live in an ever changing world of technology and we must allow them

to keep up. He suggests that teachers should engage in social media to show learning and

conversations, use their own devices at school, create makerspaces, create real world

environments, and use blended and virtual learning options. This is in one sense, how we can

bring 21st century activities into our classroom.

To keep our lessons engaging, we need innovation. A way to think about innovation

comes from George Couros. He uses Carol Dwecks growth mindset as a springboard for the

idea of the innovator mindset. He talks about how we as teachers need to have a growth

mindset, but when we work with children, we need to go beyond that and create new knowledge.

Couros says, It is not simply about being open to growth, but focusing on what new knowledge

you can create with that growth(Couros 2014). Using this idea as educators forces us to think

about what is best for the student.

Doing what is best for the students and knowing that all students can learn paired with a

21st century classroom will ultimately allow all children the experiences they need to be a part of

the ever changing world we live in. My vision is to create this within my classroom and help aid
other teachers in adapting this within their own classrooms. Strong leadership requires moral

purpose, communication, collaboration, and mentoring relationships. By being a leader myself, I

can insure that my vision becomes a reality.

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