Flexibility Within Structure

Psychology has shown that autonomy and agency are key to motivation, and being confined to someone else's standard or method of work can feel stifling or defeating. People need to feel they have some locus of control to blossom in their work. However, any organization needs confines to function properly. Even entrepreneurs who are their own bosses need to have structures for their businesses to thrive.

Schools and classrooms are no different. Administrators with rigid rules about teachers working in lockstep in the curriculum and educating like an assembly line do not lead to strong learning environments. I have colleagues in large urban districts who have strict expectations that all teachers of a course district-wide are teaching the same lesson on the same day. They get in trouble if they are observed to be off schedule. This makes it easy for administrators to check off that teachers are covering the curriculum, and guarantees that all students receive access to the same content through attempts at equity. But what it creates is equality, and that is far from the same idea as equity.

In no way should professional teachers be treated like this. There has never been a classroom with more than one student where all kids learned the same content in the same way at the same pace. The kids who understand the material are no longer challenged. Kids who do not understand are left behind. Teachers are trained to assess their students’ progress and make adjustments, and the joy of teaching comes in the breakthroughs. In these one-size-fits-all systems, teachers really can be replaced by AI tutoring bots.

Just like complete control is ineffective, complete autonomy to teach and work however an individual wants leads to unpredictable and wildly disparate results. Students receive different experiences to prepare them for the same next step, making that teacher's job exponentially more difficult. Teachers teach what they feel is important, which may or may not align with school, community, or societal goals. Effective professional development is nearly impossible to plan when everyone is doing their own thing. Students, parents, counselors, and case managers are left guessing at expectations.

The middle ground is flexibility within structure. Schools should set expectations for high-quality tier one instruction that impact all grade levels or subject areas. A framework of ideas, such as how classrooms are arranged, lessons are created, assessments are administered, and work is done, provides an umbrella for classrooms to fit within. Curriculum maps are seen as creating the path and not the final destination, and teachers determine their own pacing within a school term. Grade levels and content teams operate through the same guidelines and expectations, but teachers have autonomy within the instructional framework to educate to their strengths and students' needs.

Educational leaders need to hire, train, and support competent teachers. Teachers need clarity on the expectations for how they teach students, and be given the ability to innovate and create within an approved system. Students then need to be provided with clear guidelines for the expected outcomes, with the ability to build their own understandings and prove their knowledge in unique ways. All parties now feel validated and valued, maximize their strengths, and find fulfillment in their role in the school system.

As an addition, if you are reading this from outside the school system I would love to know how this applies to your field.

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