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Alaska Department of Education & Early Development

The Quality Paradigm Shift in Education

From Teaching and Testing to Continuous Learning and Improvement

by John Jay Bonstingl

Third Edition ŠJohn Jay Bonstingl 1995. Original edition published in Schools of Quality:

An Introduction to Total Quality Management in Education (ASCD 1992)

OLD PARADIGM OF TEACHING AND TESTING	NEW PARADIGM OF CONTINUOUS LEARNING AND IMPROVEMENT
Success is artificially limited to a few "winners." All others are made to consider themselves and their work as mediocre or inferior.	Unlimited, continuous improvement and successes are the aims of the school and community.
Competition-based.	Cooperation-based.
Lessons are linear, consecutive segments of one-way communication.	Learning is like a spiral with offshoots, with energy directed toward continuous improvement.
Product-oriented. Focused solely upon results, without acknowledgment of their short-term nature. Grades and rankings are important in themselves.	Process-oriented. Goals are important, but the process of getting to the goal is at least as significant. Assessments are used for diagnostic and prescriptive purposes.
Life, including schooling, is only worthwhile if you reach your goals. The process has little or no intrinsic merit, and must be abbreviated whenever possible so the goals can be reached sooner.	Life is a journey, and has intrinsic merit if lived with a zest for life, love and learning. Developing a "yearning for learning" is most important of all.
The system and its processes don't matter, as long as the ends are achieved.	The integrity and health of the system, its processes, and its people must be maintained, or the system will be suboptimized and will eventually fail.
Work is a task, not intended to bring joy and pride to the worker.	Work should be challenging, invigorating, and meaningful. Workers should take pride and joy in the products and processes of their work.
School is a place where teaching is done to (at) students. Students are passives, while teachers are active.	School is a true community of learner in which administrators, teachers, and students learn how to get better and better at the work they do together, so that everyone succeeds optimally.
Teachers are isolated from each other by time and space.	Teachers work together on school time to build success with each other and with a manageable number of students in a cohort group.
Administration is viewed as the teacher' natural adversary (perhaps the enemy.)	Administrators are viewed as teammates and partners in removing the obstacles to student and teacher success.
Teachers are viewed as the students' natural adversaries (perhaps as enemies).	Teachers are viewed as teammates and partners in removing obstacles to student's progress.
Single-discipline instruction.	Multi- and cross-discipline instruction.
School learning is restricted to the curriculum, often in its narrowest interpretation.	School learning is the foundation for life-wide, life-deep, and lifelong learning. 3-Dimensional Learning.
OLD PARADIGM OF TEACHING AND TESTING	NEW PARADIGM OF CONTINUOUS LEARNING AND IMPROVEMENT
Tayloresque factory model: Rule by compliance, control, command. Authoritarian, hierarchical. Management based upon fear.	New model: Lead by helping and by providing vision and support, making it possible for teachers and students to take pride in their work together and to have joy in the processes and products of continuous improvement. (In Japan this is called kaizen.)
Centralized control over resources, curriculums, teaching methods, length of class periods, etc.	Site-based management of resources, curriculums, teaching methods, length of class periods, etc.
External validation of truth and the "one right answer" for every question asked by teacher, text, test.	External and internal truths are discovered through teachers' and students' questioning together.
Testing as the primary means of assessing results of the learning process.	Testing, when appropriate, to help modify (improve) the teaching-learning process. Other modes include process portfolios, exhibitions, performances, etc.
Instruction is set up to generate (right) answers.	Instruction is set up to generate better and better questions, followed by student inquiry into some of the areas of those questions. Student performances demonstrate improve understanding of the nature of the questions and some of the ways they might be solved.
Teachers are expected to know everything about their subjects. They give students data and information; students memorize it, then forget most of it.	Teachers are experts in their field. But more importantly, they are the most enthusiastic and dedicated learners in the classroom. Students learn from teachers, other students, the community and other sources, and incorporate these learnings into their lives, applying their insights as appropriate to real-life challenges.
Parents are outsiders, often made to feel unwelcome, even if unintentionally.	Parents as partners, suppliers, and customers. They are an integral part of the student's progress from the very beginning through the end of the schooling process.
Business sometimes welcomed to "adopt" a school; kept at arm's length.	Businesses invited to become partner (secondary suppliers and customers) in the students' continuous progress, not for direct commercial gain.
People of the community are not encouraged to take part in the life of the school, or in the education of the community's young people. They are not encouraged to take pride in the community's schools.	People of the community are brought into the school and made welcome, encourage to contribute time and talents to the betterment of their school and the community's children.
Ultimate goal: Students as products of the school.	Ultimate goal: Students as their own products, continually expanding their interests, improving their abilities, and developing their character-getting better and better every day, and helping other to do the same.
Copyright ŠJohn Jay Bonstingl 1995. All rights reserved. Permission to duplicate or otherwise use this material solely nonprofit educational use is hereby granted, provide this copyright notice is given. For further information, please contact The Center for School of Quality, PO Box 810, Columbia, MD 21044 USA. Telephone (410) 997-7555. FAX (410) 997-2345.

INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNIQUES AND ACTIVITIES

Linguistic	Logical	Kinesthetic	Visual/Spatial
Culminating Essay reviews project accomplishment Journals Logs Portfolios of written work Word processor products Newspaper Articles Discussions Debates Storytelling Write poem, myth, legend, short play Relate a short play or novel to... Give presentation on... Lead a class discussion on... Create a talk show radio program Write a newsletter, booklet, or dictionary Invent slogans Create an audio tape Conduct an interview Write a letter Use technology to write a letter	Scoring sheets Out-loud problem solving Puzzles Games Outlining Strategizing Translate into mathematical formula Timeline Design and conduct an experiment Make strategy game Make a calendar Interpret data Hypothesize about... Create story problem Write a computer program Categorize facts and information Set up a lab project Describe the symmetry of... Use inductive or deductive reasoning Select and use technology	Exhibitions-public demonstration of knowledge gained: 1. books 2. videotapes 3. experiments 4. art work 5. models 6. skits Manipulatives Products Simulations Role plays Creative movement Rehearse and perform a play Create a movement or sequence of movements to explain... Choreograph a dance Do a reader's theater Invent a board floor or adventure game Make task or puzzle cards Build or construct Plan and attend a field trip Use qualities of a physically educated person Devise a scavenger hunt Make a model Design a product Select and use technology	Pictorials-chart or graph of student progress in study unit Mind maps Timelines Models Photographic essays Videotapes Collages Art work Clusters, graphs Create slide show, videotape, or photo album Design a poster, bulletin board, or mural Visualize Use memory system Create a demonstration piece Develop architectural drawings Make a film or an advertisement Vary color, size, and shape Color-code a process Invent a board or card game Illustrate, draw, paint, sketch, sculpt, construct Use overhead projector Use technology

Musical	Interpersonal	Intrapersonal
Original songs-write lyrics, compose music Dances that illustrate a concept Song or musical collage Musical mnemonics Rhythmical patterns Sing a rap or song that explains... Indicate the rhythmical patterns Give presentation using musical accompaniment Explain how the music of a song is similar Present a short class musical Make an instrument and demonstrate it Use music to enhance skill building Create musical game Collect and present songs Write a new ending to a song Use musical technology	Peer review- students decide together on skills and criteria to evaluate Collaborative learning or service projects Teaching others, peer or younger student tutoring Leadership skills Create and implement group rules Conduct class meeting Identify and assume a role Organize or participate in a group Use conflict management strategy Accommodate learning differences Mentoring, apprenticeships, or tutoring programs Culturegrams Multiple perspectives Help resolve local or global problem Multi-ethnic perspective Use tele-communications International issues	Reflective journal track process and learning: also: 1. daily or weekly goals 2. learning method 3. results Self assessment activities Describe feelings about learning, setting, achieving goals Managing self-directed projects Describe qualities you possess that will help you be successful Create personal analog Explain your personal philosophy Use emotional processing Describe personal values Use self-directed learning Explain the purpose in studying Explain intuitive hunches Receive feedback Use technology

Developed by Meri Holden, Kodiak High School, from Teaching and Learning Through Multiple Intelligences by Linda Campbell, et.al., 1992

BEST PRACTICES IN SOCIAL STUDIES

From: Best Practice: New Standards for Teaching and Learning in America's Schools, by Steven Zemelman