I mentioned before that I had a narrow-minded belief about “haves” and “have nots” and I blamed students’ learning failures as, “Those STUPID STUDENTS, why don’t they get it? Oh well, such is life—win some, lose some!” I regretfully thought this for longer than I wish to admit. Maybe I should be honest and tell you, it was nearly two complete decades. In my seventeenth year of teaching, I experienced a huge paradigm shift toward accountability. I heard a national level music teacher explain the difference between negative, REACTIVE thinking, “Those stupid students…” and positive, PROACTIVE thinking, “The students didn’t get it, so where did I fail? At what point did I lose them? What teaching step or series of steps did I miss that sabotaged their learning?”
THE BUCK STOPS WHERE? Who was really in charge of each class anyway? Think about it. With a reactive attitude, I attempted to relieve myself of all blame and responsibility. With proactive thinking, I finally looked at the PROBLEM and MYSELF honestly. After all, who was the teacher, the kids or me? Who was responsible to know how to motivate them to learn? Who was supposed to have received training to teach? Who was responsible for the teaching that should happen if it does not? Where does the buck really stop?
EVALUATION TIME. Additional proactive questions continued from there. What do the students already know? What did they last do successfully? What is their entry level for this new skill I want them to learn? What is their next learning step? As the teacher, do I know the sequential steps inherent in the teaching of my subject? From point A to point B, exactly what are the particular skill steps involved? What will I do to remediate any step the students do not get? On the other hand, what will I do if they breeze right through a multitude of steps and finish better than I anticipated? How will I evaluate and determine if they really accomplished their learning task(s)? Do I accurately and methodically correct mistakes or do I gloss over them thinking they will simply disappear as we go along? Do I accurately evaluate each learning step for highest levels of success, or am I satisfied with mediocrity?
TEACHING VS. LEARNING. There are two sides to every teaching setting—how the subject is taught and how the subject is learned. They are radically different. On one hand, I must skillfully teach music or learn if I do not know how (the art of teaching), while on the other hand, I must know how students learn music (music learning sequences) and can actually void their learning if I ignore the order.
ACCOUNTABILITY. So what am I saying? I am ACCOUNTABLE for every aspect of teaching and learning. I am responsible for my attitude, which should be proactive, not reactive, and fault-accepting instead of fault-finding. I am responsible to motivate students to learn when motivation is needed. I am responsible to learn how I should teach (the art of teaching). I am responsible to know how my subject is sequentially learned by my students and am responsible to teach it in the order that learners need. I am responsible to evaluate the success of each step (assessment). I am responsible to remediate anything not successfully learned (corrective measures), as well as be resourceful when the class has been extraordinarily successful (enrichment measures). I am responsible to know where each student is in his/her individual skill development, and to guide the student to the next level. At the same time, I am responsible to know how to do the same regarding the class as a whole group.
This is all about personal accountability; that is, the teacher placing accountability on him/herself and understanding the aspects of it on oneself. But that is only one side of the accountability coin. A later section will consider how the teacher places accountability on the class and teaches accountability to them.
Pastor, how would you reword the questions in the paragraph “Evaluation Time” regarding your ministry and your church members? Can you also answer your questions? Where do you stand with self-imposed accountability?
Your Belief System and Your Church:
(1) Introduction
Your Belief System and Your Church:
(2) Your Paradigms
Your Belief System and Your Church:
(3) Bondage or Freedom
Your Belief System and Your Church:
(4) Gateway Skills
Your Belief System and Your Church:
(5) Teacher Accountability
Your Belief System and Your Church:
(6) Talking About vs. Doing
Your Belief System and Your Church:
(7) Student Accountability
Your Belief System and Your Church:
(8) Assessment
Your Belief System and Your Church:
(9) Bury Dead Tradition
Your Belief System and Your Church:
(10) Teaching vs. Learning
Your Belief System and Your Church:
(11) Teachers' Three Phases
Your Belief System and Your Church:
(12) Excellence is NOT a Goal
Your Belief System and Your Church:
(13) My Teaching Limits Were Their Learning Limits
Your Belief System and Your Church:
(14) Unlearning Creates Success
Your Belief System and Your Church:
(15) Pioneers vs. Settlers
Your Belief System and Your Church:
(16) Real and Lasting Learning
Your Belief System and Your Church:
(17) Problems With Memory
Your Belief System and Your Church:
(18) Ownership Creates Success
Your Belief System and Your Church:
(19) Not Perfect, But Honest
Your Belief System and Your Church:
(20) Take Risks and Give Away Control
Your Belief System and Your Church:
(21) Out of a Job
Your Belief System and Your Church:
(22) KCAASE and Proverbs 24
Your Belief System and Your Church:
(23) Responding vs. Reacting
Your Belief System and Your Church:
(24) Only When Performed
Your Belief System and Your Church:
(25) A Supervisor's Vision
Your Belief System and Your Church:
(26) Glimpses Into the Spiritual
Your Belief System and Your Church:
(27) One Reason Alone