How to improve the quality of education at Vasilyev’s school. Olga Vasilyeva: we need to abandon the term “educational services”

A year ago, the President of the Russian Federation appointed Olga Vasilyeva as Minister of Education. The historian-theologian, certified choirmaster and former employee of the presidential administration replaced theoretical physicist Dmitry Livanov in this post. “Current Comments” highlighted the most important areas in which Olga Vasilyeva managed to make changes.

Beginning of transfer of schools from municipalities to regions

The minister complained that “44 thousand schools are in no way subordinate to the Ministry of Education and Science (...) and are not subordinate to the region.” According to her, the current system is ineffective and needs to change. As a solution to the problem, she decided to carry out a large-scale reform school education. It is proposed to transfer schools from municipal authorities to regional ones.

The reform will be tested in 16 regions. It has already begun in the Samara, Astrakhan regions and St. Petersburg.

Study of Religion and Theology

Vasilyeva proposed increasing the number of hours for studying the basics of religious culture and secular ethics in schools. She stated that fundamentals of religion is a subject that strengthens the foundations of morality. The fact that in central Russia schoolchildren most often choose Orthodoxy and secular ethics, and in Muslim regions - Islam, does not bother her. She believes that this discipline is not aimed at religious education.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education and Science has already increased the number budget places majoring in theology. This year, 475 state employees are studying the science of religion; next year, 632 students are planned.

Astronomy lessons

Until recently, astronomy had the status of the main outsider among all school subjects. The science of stars was, at best, left as a short section in a physics textbook and taught on a residual basis; at worst, it was pretended that it did not exist. Vasilyeva decided to make astronomy “great again” - the subject will appear in the program of the 2017/18 academic year.

Oral interview for ninth graders

The minister considered that the GIA was not enough for ninth-graders and decided to create an additional filter for admission to certification exams.

Vasilyeva proposed introducing an oral interview in Russian. The innovation will work next year. It is also planned to introduce the oral part of the Unified State Exam in Russian in 2019.

Reducing the number of textbooks in all subjects

The minister has already become concerned that history and geography textbooks tend to be hopelessly behind the times. She proposed “bringing geography and history textbooks into line with the times.” “Now we can do it electronically. Because it’s unlikely that paper carriers will be able to come to school in September,” Vasilyeva said.

Our immediate plans include reducing the range of textbooks in all subjects. She considers 400 textbooks for primary school unacceptable and suggests leaving 2-3 lines for each subject.

Support for banning hijabs in schools

After the scandal with the ban on wearing hijabs in one of the Mordovian schools, Vasilyeva spoke out sharply in favor of the ban. She stated that true believers do not try to emphasize their faith with their attributes. “Several years ago, the Constitutional Court decided that hijabs, as emphasizing national identity, have no place in school. Therefore, I believe that this issue was resolved by the constitutional court several years ago,” Vasilyeva said.

Labor education in schools

Following astronomy, Vasilyeva dusted off another educational artifact of the Soviet era - labor education. She “with both hands” supported the State Duma’s legislative initiative to introduce labor education in schools. “Without hard work, without skills, which we owe primarily to family and school, without the skills to work hourly, every second, to gain success from work, we cannot live,” the minister believes.

Law on labor education was submitted to the State Duma, but parliamentarians still did not dare to accept it immediately: the draft was sent for revision.

Reduction of budget places in graduate school

Vasilyeva considered that the departments “should have two or three graduate students.” This is how, in her opinion, graduate school “really develops researchers.” The minister is unhappy that only a third of graduate students defend their dissertations.

Vasilyeva proposed canceling accreditation for educational programs graduate studies, make it a priority to conduct graduate studies scientific research and make the defense of a dissertation mandatory upon completion of training. However, this year there was no reduction in budget postgraduate places.

The appearance of speech therapists, psychologists and chess clubs in schools

Concerned about the “death groups,” Vasilyeva intended to return psychologists to schools. “Now my main task (I talk about this all the time) is to return psychologists to school. Today we have one psychologist for every 700 children. It's nothing. Concerning kindergarten, one speech therapist or psychologist for 400 people,” she said.

The head of the Ministry of Education also said that the chess club should be returned to schools. She noted that “every school should have a chess club. Nothing develops a population like chess. It doesn't cost anything." True, there has not yet been a massive influx of chess coaches, psychologists and speech therapists into schools.

School TV

The Ministry of Education is going to launch a unified school TV.

“This school television will be the following: news of the country and the world... news in all areas that can be done, of course, taking into account age. And the second part is school television, their local television, which they are developing. This is what ideally should be,” Vasilyeva said.

Vasilyeva again made reference to the Soviet past, considering school TV a logical continuation of school radio. She believes that this will not involve large costs and is generally feasible, because many schools already have their own TV.

So far, the minister’s actions have not greatly influenced the perception of the educational system among Russians. Over the year, the FOM recorded a decrease in the assessment of the quality of domestic education: 36% of Russians (+4% per year) assess it as bad, and 40% (-4% per year) as average.

The number of those who disapprove of the Unified State Exam also increased sharply (from 49% to 66%). The areas in which Vasilyeva is taking active steps suggest a long-term effect, but so far there has been no visible success in improving the quality of education and its perception.

Follow us

Minister of Education and Science Olga Vasilyeva continues to highlight the emphasis. She said what she considers most important for the school, what tasks teachers and those who teach them will have to solve in the near future, whether free after-school education will remain and what clubs should be in every school.

Written exams will appear

It's no secret that students in grades 10 and 11 stop studying and study only the subjects they chose at the Unified State Exam. The most surprising thing is that, even having passed the Unified State Exam quite successfully, they often show very mediocre knowledge in universities. Rectors admit that they spend six months completing the school curriculum.

The Unified State Examination will improve, and in two years the essay will have the classic look it always had. Schools will have grades for all subjects upon completion. I believe that socially significant universities should have a written exam. Now we are completing our entire first semester in various school programs. Medical, engineering and all other universities must have a written exam,” the minister expressed her opinion.

What might this look like? “The mechanism is this: universities that over the course of three years recruit a very high GPA(94-95), which is very difficult to do, can offer their applicants a written exam, for example, in their specialty, that is, a profiling exam. If you are a doctor, you write chemistry, if you are an engineer, you write mathematics, if you are a philologist, you write literature,” the minister said.

At the same time, she emphasized that this option needs to be discussed and it is too early to talk about immediate changes. By the way, exactly this model for admission has long been adopted at Moscow State University: in all faculties you need to bring the Unified State Examination and pass the university written exam.

Another possible innovation: a specialty for undergraduates. “The fact that the introduction of a pedagogical bachelor’s degree has brought an incomprehensible result is obvious to everyone.”

Rating without reference to the Unified State Examination

We got very carried away by all sorts of ratings, and we got so carried away that we forgot why, why... Any rating should carry with it a context - why and why this study was ordered, the minister believes. - We have schools in mountain villages, Far East. In these small schools, students perform well not for the sake of grades or rankings, but because they are interested in learning. The driving force there is the teacher. If he instilled hard work and interest in the subject, the result will always be there.

She recalled that Finland, which ranks first in many rankings, took all the best that was in the Russian imperial school. In 1972, this country began ambitious education reforms, which led to success and high rankings.

We are in Lately We like to say that everything is bad with us, but we have a lot of good things and we shouldn’t forget about it,” said Olga Vasilyeva. She emphasized that Russia is participating and will participate in international rankings, but school rankings, which are sometimes compiled based on the Unified State Examination, are not an assessment for it and will not be.

With an eye on space

Olga Vasilyeva believes that now the emphasis should be on engineering education, and gave an example from history: before the war, the country had a huge number of clubs and stations for young technicians. And 20 years later a man flew into space. "We must focus on the development of engineering sciences and high technology“to catch up in a very short time with what we have already missed, and try to move forward.”

Astronomy hour

The minister promised that astronomy will return to the schedule. But where can we get the “extra” hours, since the number of lessons at school cannot be increased?

In her opinion, now a second foreign language, if it is not a language school, is in many ways a profanity. However, 250 hours are allocated for it. “I will safely take two hours - one in the 10th grade, another hour in the 11th,” said Olga Vasilyeva. She in no way calls for abandoning a second or third foreign language, but believes that they can be studied optionally.

There are no problems with textbooks either. “Here it is - a textbook. Authors are Vorontsov-Velyaminov and Strout. Basic level. The textbook is designed for 11th grade. A physics teacher is ready to read astronomy,” the minister said in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda.

Academicians will check the “beginner” programs

The school faces an important task - how to restore interest in reading. Most modern children are visual learners, they perceive a moving picture on the screen and do not want to read books. “Now we need to develop an all-Russian reading program,” Olga Vasilyeva defined another task. “We have such wonderful regional leaders who are implementing the “Reading Mother - Reading Country” program.”

I talked a lot with elementary school teachers, because elementary school is the foundation. Many of them say that the program is too easy now. They didn't say it was primitive, they said it was simple. This requires a great deal of expert assessment, but it should not be in one expert group that has existed for decades, but it should be the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Russian Academy of Education, regional science.

Representatives to this Russian Academy sciences responded that they were ready to get involved and take a close look at school programs.

It is in the “beginning” that one must begin to instill an interest in reading and books. The minister admitted that she is very concerned about the situation in primary school, especially “native reading” and the return of extracurricular reading.

What kind of extension will it be?

In many schools, since last year, after-school classes have become paid. Moreover, most often this decision is not made by the poorest regions. Many parents do not understand who decides what kind of after-school program there will be and whether it can be made free again. “All regions, without exception, are doing everything possible to completely remove fees for needy families - large families, vulnerable families - this exists in every region," said Olga Vasilyeva. She recalled that " additional education in Russia it is free, so each school must think and decide for itself what and how it is going to charge money.”

“As for everything else, the founder of each specific school needs to decide what he is going to take money for, because the law on education can broadly interpret that same after-school time,” Vasilyeva said. In her opinion, the most correct option is “to look separately at the agreement of each organization, for which the fee is charged.”

There will be chess, sports and music in schools

What can change in the school additional education system? According to Olga Vasilyeva, “any school without special expenses should have three things for a child to develop: a chess club, no matter how paradoxical it may sound, sports clubs and art clubs, let it be a music club.”

Verbatim

“It will soon be impossible to put 40 hours a week on a teacher.”

Teachers complain that they receive a salary of 20-30 thousand rubles thanks to the fact that they take two, or even two and a half times, plus excellent management. Teachers are being exhausted. How will we unload?

Are you talking about the teaching load?

Yes. There are teachers who work 35 hours a week, and 40...

You know, 35, 45 hours a week are isolated cases. We keep statistics, we know the situation.*

That is, in your opinion, there is no mass reworking of teachers?

Now the national average is 1.3 rates. In the 70s, when I started working, almost all of us also had one and a half rates. Maybe because we were young, it didn’t seem like a disaster to me.

But you yourself recently said that it is necessary to set a maximum limit for a teacher’s workload.

Together with trade unions, we are now developing a draft of approximate regulations on remuneration for education workers. An upper load limit will be introduced.

So it’s no longer possible to blame the teacher for 40 hours a week?

Of course not. Although I do not rule out that one of the teachers will want to draw up an additional agreement stating that they are ready to take on such work.

Voluntarily?

Certainly.

From an interview with Olga Vasilyeva to Komsomolskaya Pravda

*Today the teacher’s salary is 18 hours a week. That is, he must teach a little less than four lessons every day.

Verbatim

Olga Vasilyeva, Minister of Education and Science of Russia:

Probably, a teacher should go through a specialty rather than a bachelor's degree. This issue is being discussed and is under review.

— On behalf of the country’s President Vladimir Putin, a unified educational space is being formed. Could you tell us more about what this idea is?

— Thank you very much for such an important question. Education has always, in all periods of our history, worried both the leadership and the citizens, because there is not a single person who is not associated with education. Of course, the issue of a single educational space is directly related - and has always been related - to a very important problem: national security. The question facing the country here is who we are preparing, who we are teaching, who we are educating, to whom we can hand over the country tomorrow. That is, today a student, today a child, and tomorrow a citizen on whose shoulders responsibility for the country will fall.

The concept of a unified educational space includes several directions. But the most important thing is what we put into our training, what we put into our upbringing. Because education is training and upbringing, this is a dualism that is difficult to break, no matter what anyone says. To be honest simple level, then what is this initiative for? To know for sure that a child, having left one school and moved to another, sat down at his desk, opened a textbook, say, mathematics, and began from the place where he finished reading in the previous school.

At the same time, a single educational space requires several steps. The first step, of course, is creating the content—what and how we teach. There were standards that we all knew about and lived by that were good for their time. But each time requires certain adjustments. When we talk about educational content, we must know the core of what we will teach.

Head of the Ministry of Education and Science Olga Vasilyeva believes that the term " educational services", she announced this at the All-Russian Parents' Meeting.

“We just need to change, and this needs to be done now, today and immediately, the attitude of society towards the service of a teacher. Our services must disappear, go away. There cannot be services in the field of education,” Vasilyeva said.

She noted that from the point of view of legal protection for teachers, everything necessary is already in place. In addition, Vasilyeva said that “it is necessary to form the right attitude towards the teaching profession, including through cinema.”

“Fears are probably in vain”: Vasilyeva urged parents not to fear for the future of education

The head of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Olga Vasilyeva, spoke on Tuesday, August 30, in Moscow at the All-Russian Parents' Meeting and called on parents, alarmed by the forecasts that appeared immediately after her appointment, that Orthodox education in schools will now be introduced from the first to the 11th grade, not to fear for the future Russian educational sphere. The meeting was broadcast live from 12:00 Moscow time on the website of the Ministry of Education and Science.

“To avoid further fear, education is an area where there must be forward movement. I have said several times that we must look, evaluate what was, take the best that is, and move forward. From this point of view, fears “probably in vain,” Interfax quotes from Vasilyeva’s speech.

During the meeting, parents of schoolchildren addressed the head of the Ministry of Education and Science with questions that concerned them and, in particular, complained about the third lesson of physical education, introduced into the curriculum on September 1, 2011, calling this lesson uninteresting for children and burdensome for teachers.

The head of the Ministry of Education and Science suggested approaching this lesson creatively, for example, combining it with music. “What’s stopping us from doing rhythmics or sports musical dances?” - said Vasilyeva, essentially repeating the proposal of the Moscow Department of Education, recommended diversify fitness classes, martial arts and dance sports to improve the quality of physical education lessons.

“We think and do little about the artistic education of our children, musical education. We can do a third lesson - rhythm, sports movements to music,” Vasilyeva said, emphasizing that “the third hour will not hurt anyone.” “Maybe it will be some steps, if you want. Moving well is posture, a healthy spine, moving to music is health,” the minister added.

“Train” is an inappropriate verb: tests in physics, chemistry and biology will disappear from the Unified State Exam

Vasilyeva opposed the idea that schooling should be replaced by “training” on the tasks of the Unified State Exam. “I am categorically against training for the Unified State Exam after school hours - officially within the framework of school. “Coach” is an inappropriate verb,” she said (quoted by Interfax).

According to her, the Unified State Examination will be gradually improved as needed. The Moscow agency reports that test items will disappear from the Unified State Examination in physics, chemistry and biology in 2017, and mostly state exam an oral part will appear in Russian language and literature. “The test assignments from the Unified State Exam in physics, chemistry, biology will be removed, for the first time ninth graders will take the oral part in Russian and literature, we will do an analysis and move on to the senior grades,” Vasilyeva said.

Answering the question of what to do with tutors who offer to prepare for the Unified State Exam, the minister expressed the opinion that they can teach how to answer test questions, but will not replace a teacher and will not provide the deep knowledge that a school should provide.

"The Unified State Exam makes it possible for people from very distant regions to enter best universities. Here we need to follow the path of improvement and perfection: to qualitatively deepen the very state and content, the content of the Unified State Exam,” RIA Novosti quotes the minister.

“It’s simply impossible to prepare for the Unified State Exam without going through the entire program. You can go through a business proposal - for God’s sake, you guessed the buttons, you guessed correctly. But there’s a university ahead, the first winter session, where you don’t have to press buttons. Why step on the rake?” - said the minister. “The child must be prepared, and already being prepared, it is easy to answer tasks,” Vasilyeva added.

On career guidance for children in schools: “The main thing is to want to do it or force them to do it”

Vasilyeva spoke in favor of career guidance for high school students, TASS reports. “Schools need to take this seriously and make every effort to provide career guidance in schools,” Vasilyeva said. She added that all the necessary mechanisms and conditions in schools have already been created. “The main thing is to want to do it or force it to be done,” the minister emphasized.

The school should have a specialized Internet replacement

The minister believes that a modern child can be distracted from the Internet with the help of clubs and active activities at school.

Federal portal Russian education" cites the following fragment from Vasilyeva’s speech: “Parents, at home you can do everything possible to block programs and computer games that take up so much time. You can limit the downloading of files that should not be downloaded - this is at home, here you have the right to decide which restrict your access."

“As for the school, I believe that the school should have a specialized replacement. This means that the child and we must try. It is necessary that he is engaged in active activities: circle work, sports, music, technical creativity, to distract him from the desire to be on the Internet all the time,” the minister said.

She added that in October classes are being held to teach safety when working with the Internet. According to the minister, parents and the educational system should work together on this issue, since a child spends less time on a school computer than on a home computer.

The five-day week will not affect tenth and eleventh graders

Schools, according to Vasilyeva, will gradually switch from a six-day to a five-day school week. “About the five-day week. Today we have it in many schools, and the process that is now underway is a gradual expansion of the transition to a five-day week,” the minister said, answering a question from parents about how children do not have time to rest in one day . She added that, at the same time, this does not apply to the tenth and eleventh grades, Interfax reports.

The minister also emphasized that sanitary standards for the permissible maximum classroom load for children at school should not be violated. “No one can burden you anymore,” Vasilyeva said.

“We will do everything possible to ensure that we do not have not only a third shift, but also a second one - the 2025 program is already in effect, is developing, and will be implemented,” the portal quotes Vasilyeva. Russian education".

She cited standards for acceptable classroom load. According to her, students in the second through fourth grades should study 26 hours a week, in the fifth grade - 32 hours, in the sixth grade - 33 hours, in the seventh grade - 35 hours, in the tenth - eleventh grades - 37 hours.

The all-Russian parent meeting is held in the format of a videoconference with live broadcasts from ten regions of Russia. This is the third such meeting, the first took place in 2014.

A lot of practice and the most necessary theory - this is the key formula of this book. From it you will learn: how to step-by-step implement a system of sharing experience at school, what is important to observe in the classroom, how to overcome resistance to change within the team, how to increase the social capital of the school and thereby make education better and more accessible. The publication is addressed to school principals and their deputies, heads of methodological associations and teachers who care about the quality of their lessons.

* * *

The given introductory fragment of the book Mission is possible: how to improve the quality of education at school (E. N. Kukso) provided by our book partner - the company liters.

Seven Ways to Improve Teaching Quality

This section will help the reader:

– learn about seven main ways to organize mutual training of teachers at school;

– get acquainted with step-by-step algorithms for implementing experience exchange systems;

– understand the possibilities and risks of using each of them in your school;

– using the proposed exercises, understand who in your school is suitable for the role of leader, which teachers are easier to unite to work together, and how to motivate changes.

In addition, in the section you will find worksheets for effective improvement planning and get an idea of ​​pedagogical ideas that could unite teachers.

A teacher's pedagogical skill is not developed when he or she studies voluminous books on didactics (although this is probably important). Mostly teachers learn by copying other people's experience7: both positive and negative. For example, even if a student at a pedagogical university was taught progressive technologies, then in practice, when he gets to school, he will teach children the way he was once taught (most likely, not particularly progressively).

Unfortunately, a teacher can repeat the same mistakes over and over again until he sees another – more effective – experience or learns to analyze his own mistakes. “Copying mistakes” is especially pronounced in those schools where teachers are professionally isolated and have little observation of each other’s experience. This section will focus on how to overcome the effects of isolation and build strong professional networks among teachers.

Collective learning allows everyone to improve their skills and thereby improve the overall educational results of the school.

Method 1. Curatorial technique

This technique arose as a result of a study conducted in several hundred Russian schools “ Social capital educational organization"8 . It was found that, in general, there are few high-quality reciprocal professional connections among educators in schools. That is, teachers for the most part are professionally lonely and rarely learn from each other. Therefore, the question arose: how to solve this problem, how to build the missing professional connections? How can teachers create the habit of purposefully sharing experiences?

We found that stable teacher groups are created in those schools in which there are many mutual connections between pairs of teachers. In other words, first two people begin to exchange experiences, then, one way or another, numerous professional groups can grow out of the pairs. Therefore, the first task of a school leader is to form pairs of teachers who can learn from each other, and then increase the groups.

At the same time, simply approaching two teachers, directively forcing them to create a professional pair and start learning from each other is perhaps the most ineffective thing you can come up with. Most likely, this will lead to disastrous results: disgust and imitation. For efficient work The couple needs a few more key elements.

“Smart third” (we call him curator)– this is the person who organizes a discussion between two teachers and ensures their psychological safety. When two people observe each other's practice and point out shortcomings, it can be taken as a personal insult. The third person is called upon to return the dialogue to a constructive direction and remove the threat.

Specific task to improve learning. You can discuss each other's lessons for a long time and lively, but if teachers do not have specific tasks, measurable goals, there is a high probability of simply wasting time. One of the curator’s priorities is to set tasks for the participants in interactions.

The curatorial methodology is implemented in several steps.

Step 1. Selecting teachers. Among the teachers, pairs of equal status are selected. For example, two young teachers or two older ones with approximately equal authority. It will be better if these are teachers of different subjects: this way they will look not at the methodology for conveying specific topics in mathematics or literature, but at the “teacher-student” interaction. In the supervisory methodology, it is important that teachers in pairs do not play the role of mentor or student. In this case, a more experienced teacher may perceive such discussions as undermining his authority.

Step 2. Selection of a curator for a couple. The best candidates for the role of the “third smart one” are reputable teachers, members of the administration, a school psychologist, and a tutor. The rules for selecting a curator and the basic requirements for him are described in more detail below.

Step 3. Formulation of the task for teachers. The teacher present in the lesson is tasked with monitoring a specific aspect of the lesson. For example, one teacher comes to another’s lesson with a specific observation sheet and records what is happening according to a given pattern. Then their roles change: the second teacher conducts the lesson, and the first one makes notes in the same protocol.

Step 4. Discussion of the results in the presence of the curator. The general meeting must take place within 48 hours of the first lesson, that is, “hot on the heels”. The pros and cons of the lesson are discussed. But the session does not take place in the format of abstract reflections (like it or not), but only those aspects that were observed are analyzed. The facilitator ensures that the discussion remains constructive and that participants are aware of what they have learned and the difficulties they have encountered.

Good questions for a curator in such a situation:

If you were a (strong, average, weak) student in this lesson, what would you learn?

What difficulties would you face?

Step 5. The curator sets a new task. It would be more accurate to say that the supervisor decides whether teachers need to work on the same task (for example, if there is a feeling that simply discussing shortcomings will not be enough) or move on to a new point (when teachers understand everything and learn how to implement it).

By setting new tasks and monitoring different aspects of practice, the teacher’s professional awareness increases, he pays more attention to his practice and the student’s reactions to his actions.

Step 6. Gradual complication of interaction between participants. A pair (or dyad) is often an unstable structure, since teachers can abruptly stop sharing experiences without supervisory prompts. Groups of three (triads) or more teachers are much more stable and productive for a school. In this case, they establish certain cultural norms (for example, the desire for continuous improvement). Therefore, the curator can change the participants of the pairs, add new teachers, provided that equal statuses are maintained.

Supervisory tasks for beginning teachers

To begin with, I propose to consider one of the options for the task, developed by K. M. Ushakov9. It is dedicated to the vision of the classroom and is intended more for beginning teachers. The section “Assessing the quality of teaching” contains tasks of varying complexity. For teachers with little teaching experience, these may be tasks of maintaining attention and maintaining discipline, for experienced teachers - something from the category of aerobatics. In a word, you can choose a task for any teacher.

Exercise for beginning teachers “Classroom Vision”

It is known that a novice teacher does not see the entire class, but a short diagonal of it. He rarely leaves his desk (after all, there is an open textbook there). At the same time, he will claim that he sees the whole class.

Invite one of the microgroups to sit in on the other’s lessons and use ticks to record all verbal (non-verbal) interactions between teacher and student. To do this, give the observer a blank paper with a class plan, and have him mark all the teacher’s calls to the students.

When the observation sheet is completed after the lesson, it will most likely turn out that the check marks are next to several students who are sitting at the first desks and who are in the immediate field of view of the teacher.

Assignment to the Observer

During the lesson, note all verbal interactions with students using a diagrammatic representation of the class (observation protocol).

This is an example of a simple task that can quite easily increase a teacher’s awareness, that is, a clear understanding of what actions he is performing and why. When discussing such an assignment, the supervisor will need to decide what level of difficulty assignment should be given to the teachers during the next mutual lesson visit.

Exercise. Formation of teacher pairs

Target: this activity can be the first step in developing interactions between teachers. Before you start improving your team, it is important to plan the composition of its participants.

Take a list of teachers at your school and try to distribute all the employees into pairs. There is one key requirement for pairs: they must be people of approximately the same status in the organization. It is important that there are no significant personal conflicts between these people at the moment, otherwise it will be very difficult for the curator to cope with such a dyad. It is advisable that these be teachers of different subjects (although this is not a mandatory rule).

To make it easier, first distribute all employees into the proposed groups10. If you think that some teachers do not fit into any of the proposed categories, write them in the right column.

The group of young teachers is easiest to define: these are those who came to the organization relatively recently. It is easiest to organize interactions with them, since they have not yet acquired a status and a corresponding protective mechanism.

Isolated employees are those who are not considered professionally authoritative by their colleagues and who are not approached for advice in the field of teaching. Professional “stars” are also easy to identify. These are the ones your school considers the best teachers. The rest of the teachers most likely belong to the group of middle peasants. Since this usually turns out to be the largest part of the organization, it is better to divide it into two, and in large schools - into three subgroups.

Now look at each of the columns. Think about the teachers from each group by answering the following questions:

Who are the personal connections?

Who might have similar teaching difficulties?

Do they have a similar not only professional, but also personal status?

Try to form as many potential teacher pairs as possible to share experiences. You can also use other principles of pairing: you came together from a different school, are passionate about similar ideas, etc.

For each couple you still need to select a curator, but this will be discussed a little later.

If you are planning to implement curatorial methods in your school, then start small. Form 2-3 pairs among young teachers and select a “third smart one” for them. These people can become your support in organizational change.

Exercise. "Before you rush into battle..."

Target: The exercise will allow you to better prepare for the start of changes in the team. Sometimes it is difficult to overcome teachers' resistance to new rules and responsibilities. Planning management arguments is one step to overcome difficulties.

Think about how to convince teachers that something is worth doing. In communication theory, there are three types of argumentation: rational, emotional and combined argumentation. In other words, logical arguments work better for some people (which will improve the Unified State Examination and is associated with incentive payments), while it is easier to approach the consciousness of others through emotions (children will have a higher chance of a decent future, this is part of our largely difficult profession). Most people are not purely rational or emotional types, so it is most effective to combine arguments.

For each teacher you plan to involve in sharing your experience, come up with 2-3 rational and emotional arguments that would correspond to their personal interests.

Also think about what typical objections and counterarguments teachers might have (for example, being too busy, students not being good enough, family difficulties, etc.). Decide how you will respond to them.

By imagining yourself in the teacher's place, you will be able to convince your colleagues of the correctness of your ideas a little easier.

Method 2. Pedagogical tours

Agree, it sounds quite romantic. I associate the name of this technique with active recreation and adventure (in the original the technique is called instructional rounds). The technology of pedagogical tours is truly one of the most dynamic and, in my opinion, easy to implement.

Its essence lies in the fact that a small group of teachers attends a large number of lessons in a short time. Wherein the main objective- do not evaluate the teacher who is teaching the lesson or give him advice, but compare your practice with the experience of your colleagues. This technology makes it possible not to offend experienced teachers, but to maintain their reputation in the team. This will help reduce teachers' resistance to leaving their comfort zone.

Step by step plan

Step 1. Selecting travel companions. The pedagogical tour takes place over one day. It is recommended that such events be held at least once every quarter.

First, a group of 3-5 observers plus a moderator is formed. Observers can be both novice and experienced teachers. The role of moderator is best suited to a teacher respected in the team, who could skillfully structure the discussion. Someone from the administration can play this role, but it is important to warn the teachers leading the lesson that the observation is carried out not with the purpose of evaluating (and punishing in case of an error), but to observe and give teachers the opportunity to compare themselves with their colleagues.

Among the experienced and skilled teachers, several are selected who are ready to let the tour participants take their lesson. It would not be amiss for the teacher to tell the students that other teachers will come during the lesson. The teacher can explain that teachers also learn.

Step 2. Route planning. Observation of lessons should be purposeful. In this case, all members of the group look at the same thing. To select the right object for observation, you need to make sure that the following conditions are met:

the group observes a specific pedagogical aspect;

the results can be accurately recorded, that is, they are something observable and not just opinions;

the observed aspect of pedagogical reality can potentially be improved;

what is observed is consistent with the school’s broad pedagogical goals;

Improving the skill of teaching tours can actually be important to student success.

As objects for observation, you can use a variety of situations and relationships from the sphere of pedagogical reality (for more details, see the section “Assessing the quality of teaching”).

Step 3. Organizing the tour. A group of teachers, together with a moderator, knocks on the door and sits in the classroom as silently as possible, without interfering with the course of the lesson. Observation is carried out for 15-20 minutes (that is, during one academic hour, a group of teachers attends 2-3 classes). Typically a group should visit 5-6 teachers per day.

The moderator monitors the time; after observation, the group thanks the teacher and students and moves on to the next class. This organization allows you to observe many colleagues. This places the emphasis on one very specific aspect (be it the questions the teacher asks or how he uses the classroom space) so that he can get an overview in a very short time.

But it is important to remember that when visiting, the group is observing, not evaluating the teacher. No one should give the teacher feedback unless he directly asks for it.

Step 4. Discussion of impressions. At the end of the observation, the moderator organizes the discussion according to a strictly defined structure.

First, teachers describe what they saw (for example, the teacher asked a reproductive question 6 times and a productive question 15 times; 10 students listened to the teacher’s explanations, three only looked at their phones or tablets). The facilitator is advised to ensure that there are no value judgments in the discussion. It is important to discuss what the teacher did and what the students did.

The group then analyzes the data (Are there any repeating patterns? How might the data be grouped?).

Teachers predict possible reactions and ways of developing the lesson and answer the question: “ If you were a student in this lesson with this teacher and did everything that was expected of you, what would you learn, how would you react to this type of action? »

Let us give a specific example of such a discussion. We are talking about a history lesson in the 6th grade on the topic “Ancient Greece”. Teachers first discuss what questions the teacher asked (What are the three main social classes in Ancient Greece? What were the main resources? What branches was the government divided into?).

Then, in the analysis phase, teachers use Bloom's taxonomy of questions11 on which they made observations. It turns out that most questions are aimed at reproducing information (in other words, they were reproductive).

An experienced teacher at the prediction stage says that if he were a student in this lesson, it would give him significant skills in in-depth understanding of the text. But other teachers disagree with him. They believe that based on observation, children learned to identify specific, not necessarily related, facts in the textbook. This objection led teachers to consider what they meant by deep understanding of a text and what types of work might develop this. Teachers in the community came to the conclusion that deep understanding is achieved through interpretation, analysis of the text, and search for the main thing. However, it is difficult to say whether children will learn to understand the text only with the help of questions to reproduce information12.

At the end of the discussion, teachers are invited to comment on how they could improve their practices based on the evidence they have received.

Step 5. Conquering new heights. The next stage of work can take place as a continuation of the first discussion, but it can also be organized several days later. It is important to move from the level of discussion of data to the level of concrete improvements.

For example, teachers can engage in group discussion (“brainstorming”) of ways and behaviors that will improve lessons. Discussants could prepare short leaflets or presentations, a short internal or external course on a specific aspect. If the school has several groups, then it would be a good idea to arrange an exchange of recommendations.

A few words about the rules

A huge advantage of teaching tours is that they allow experienced teachers who open the doors of their classrooms not to find themselves in a situation of criticism. This technology is aimed at surveillance, not at “giving advice.” To avoid unrest and discontent in the team, it is important to follow the key rules:

teachers should not discuss what they saw in class with those not participating in the group;

what was said during the general discussion cannot be taken outside the group;

there is no need to give feedback to the teacher who taught the lesson unless he directly asks for it;

During a group discussion, it is important to focus not on which teacher is bad or good, but on what happened in the class;

teachers to whom they come for classes should not make the lesson exemplary, but conduct a regular working lesson;

The teacher must know which aspect of the lesson will be observed.

The technology of pedagogical tours, according to feedback from participants, brings energy and inspiration to the work of teachers13. It allows you to observe colleagues at work, discuss work practices with other teachers and reflect on your own teaching. Such an event does not require systemic changes to the schedule. Perhaps any school teacher can allocate one or two days per quarter.

Exercise. "Four quarters - four improvements"

Target: If you want to make teacher tours permanent in your school, it is recommended to think about dates and topics in advance.

Let's say you have the opportunity to organize teaching tours every quarter. Please think about the four directions pedagogical excellence you would like to improve first.

Write them out.

You can compare your four priorities to the topics listed in the next section of this book. Are there any similarities? If so, the observation sheets you've already created will probably help.

Exercise. How would you interpret such data?

Target: Discussing a lesson is not as simple a task as it might seem. This simple exercise will give you some practice in constructing a constructive discussion about data.

Let's say you happen to be the moderator of a lesson discussion group. Teachers who observed one of the lessons present approximately the following data.

“During the lesson, the teacher called 12 students out of 25. Of them, 5 were strong, 6 were average and one was weak. The average time for a student to think before answering a question was 3 seconds; it practically did not differ for children from different groups by level of knowledge.”

What can such data indicate? Try answering the question: “If you were a (strong, average, weak) student in this teacher’s lesson and did everything that was expected of you, what would you learn, how would you react to this type of action?”

Go back to step 4 in this section: the diagram described there will help you complete this task. Think about how you would improve the analyzed lesson, and in what form it would be appropriate to present the recommendations.

Exercise. Distribution of roles

Target: form teams for teaching tours at school

There are three types of roles in teaching tours: lesson leaders, lesson attendants and moderator. Who do you think could play each role in your school?

Lesson leaders, as a rule, are teachers whom colleagues consider the most successful in the profession. Those attending the lesson are a relatively similar group of school teachers.

Moderator is a person who organizes a constructive discussion.

What qualities do you think are needed for a moderator? Who in your team has them?

Method 3. Speed ​​dating for teachers

In big cities, there is one fashionable entertainment among young people - “speed dating” (from English speed dating). The point is that an equal number of unfamiliar guys and girls gather. At the beginning of the evening, the boys approach the girls, and the couple has 2 to 5 minutes to talk. Then a signal sounds and the pairs change. Over the course of the evening, all the girls meet all the guys. After a short conversation, both people give a plus or minus to their partner, and if the pluses match, then the organizers give the participants each other’s contact information. Tell me, is it fun?

But, as it turned out, it was also effective. This model of interaction quickly moved from the sphere of romance into business: meetings of aspiring businessmen and investors often began to be held in speed dating mode. The question arises: how can speed dating be used to improve teaching?

You can take an approach such as interdisciplinarity. Interdisciplinarity is often talked about, but not very often actually done. If there are a couple of teachers at school who communicate and are interested in everything new, then some kind of project may appear. Usually no more than that. However, there is a way to make interdisciplinary connections more systemic and school-wide. It will only take a couple of months to implement the first steps.

Step 1: Create a Study Wall

In the teachers' room (or some other common office), you need to create a stand or separate part of the wall where teachers of different subjects indicate the topics they cover in each class. For example, all teachers who teach classes in 6th grade write on A4 sheet in large, clear font what children must learn in academic year. This can be easily done based on calendar plans. Thus, a common curriculum is formed for each parallel. Important detail: for some subjects, such as Russian or foreign languages, it is appropriate to note not so much specific topics like “not with participles”, but general competencies (for example, writing business letters, make presentations, etc.).

After this, teachers should set aside a few weeks (2-4) and ask them to think about what connections can be seen between the topics. All teachers can get involved in this work, even those who did not create these specific sheets. It’s worth agreeing in advance on how to mark possible connections: draw arrows, mark them with color, or somehow circle the pairs. You can attach stickers with brief explanations of how best to do it.

You can make such stands not for one parallel, but for several. That is, to combine V – VI, VII – VIII, IX – XI classes in order to expand the possibilities of intersections.

Step 2: Quick Meeting Session

On the agreed day, when the teachers have already seen enough of the wall, a quick meeting session is organized. Teachers are divided into pairs. Each pair has 5 minutes to find at least one intersection (more is better!). Then the pairs change. It is optimal to make 8-10 dates for each teacher at a time.

Teachers at a Scottish school where this method of exchanging ideas was carried out found more than 40 intersections in 40 minutes (for example, essays and atomic energy from the English and physics programs, common topics in mathematics and chemistry, etc.).

Although everything sounds easy, it is important to pay attention to some nuances and answer the following questions for yourself: is it necessary to do speed dating for each parallel separately, or can teachers think through the work in all their classes in one day? Should pairs be formed by teachers who teach the same children, or is this not necessary? Should everyone participate or only the most active?

Step 3. Official or civil marriage?

The next stage is the actual implementation of ideas in general educational projects. It is important for the administration to decide: do these found projects need to be formalized? On the one hand, there is a risk that after all this general fun, teachers will forget about the plans after a quarter if they are not clearly spelled out. On the other hand, with excessive pressure there is a risk of imitation of cooperation.

Perhaps you want to implement something else: say, a brief methodological description of projects so that other colleagues can repeat; observations of integrated lessons by colleagues to assess impact; mini-survey of students about their experience, etc.

Exercise. Interdisciplinary connections

Target: find teachers in the team who would be interested in jointly implementing interdisciplinary projects.

Often interdisciplinary connections are based on human connections. It is even possible that when discussing intersections, you will find that more possible connections were found in those pairs where the teachers liked each other.

Try to find pairs of teachers in your school (this can be done even before the introduction of technology as a “bait”) who teach different subjects in the same classes, in the same parallels and have personal liking for each other. Try to look at their calendar and thematic plans and come up with at least one intersection. Tell us about your idea and offer to find more options.

Method 4. Japanese model, or No lesson without improvements

There is one Japanese term that I would like to explain before getting into the essence of lesson improvement techniques. The word is kaizen, which refers to the idea of ​​continually improving what we do. The idea spread to Japan in the post-war period, and in the 1980s it became popular in other countries (largely due to the example of the Toyota automaker).

Basic principles of "kaizen":

– continuous changes;

– open recognition of problems;

– creation of working groups and horizontal connections;

– development of supportive relationships;

– development of self-discipline;

– improving processes using small steps.

These principles have become very popular in the last 20 years in the field of business management. I think following them would not hurt any school.

Very similar principles underlie the Japanese method of school improvement - jugyou kenkyuu (授業研究). This is the original name of the lesson study methodology, where “junye” means “lesson” and “kenkyu” means study, research, science. Now in the literature it is customary to use the English term for this approach - lesson study, which in translation also means “lesson study”.

The ideology of lesson study is that teachers work together to find problems and, through continuous group effort, step by step improve the quality of school lessons. Perhaps our culture is significantly different from Japan, and the desire for continuous improvement is not in the blood of all school employees. However, school is also a special culture that is created and changed, even if this process is slow.

Such a technique, in my opinion, could revive subject methodological associations. When implementing it, teachers jointly draw up a lesson plan (or a series of lessons), so often teachers of mathematics, philology, and primary schools feel more involved when it comes directly to their subject area. Although groups may be interdisciplinary, the interest is still primary.

Step by step plan

The Japanese version of the lesson study model consists of very specific steps and action algorithms. This approach has now become so popular that different countries their own versions and modifications appeared. Lesson Study in Yaroslavl, Chicago or Karaganda is different in many ways. Here is a version that seems classic, but with certain notes.

Step 1. Formation of a team of teachers (3-6 people)

Although a team of teachers by itself is hardly formed... More precisely: the school leader forms a team of teachers. The problem of forming professional groups will be discussed in more detail below.

If seven or more teachers are involved, it will likely be difficult to create a schedule that suits everyone. In this case, it would be reasonable to split the group into two parts. Each group has a leader (moderator) who ensures that the discussion is constructive and that there is no criticism of the teacher. As a rule, this is an experienced teacher or member of the administration.

Step 2. Preliminary meeting schedule

It may seem strange, but group members are not chasing the number of lessons taught. As a rule, during a month of group work, only one lesson is completed. The main increase in knowledge occurs due to the fact that teachers plan and discuss together the pedagogical nuances of the lesson, observe children and analyze the results. This seemingly slow progress leads to tangible results quite quickly. (Remember the principles of kaizen?)

Work on one goal lasts 3-5 weeks, with teachers holding 10-15 general meetings during this time. It is important that there are no long periods of time between meetings. It is optimal to schedule 1-2 meetings per week.

4-6 teacher meetings are planned in advance before the lesson is to be taught. For example, a group of teachers chooses the topic “Publicistic style” in the Russian language for the 7th grade as a lesson for planning. If the topic is to be covered in the last week of October, then lesson planning should begin in late September or early October, that is, 2-4 weeks before the lesson. When teachers get involved in the process, you can plan not just one lesson, but a series of lessons on one topic (for example, a block of lessons on the topic “Communications”).

It is important that at each meeting a record is kept of what is discussed. The best option is to have someone take detailed notes about what is being offered and why. In some schools, all meetings are recorded on video.

Step 3: Planning Learning Objectives

In English, two terms are separated on opposite sides: teaching goals and learning goals. Teaching goals focus on what the teacher does (explains material, monitors learning, etc.). Learning goals are aimed at students: this is what they will learn, how children should learn, how they will think, act. To study the lesson, the primary learning goals, that is, what will happen during the lesson with the children.

Lesson objectives can be at different levels:

– specific subject related to the topic of the lesson (for example, be able to determine the journalistic style of the text);

– meta-subject related to the development of self-control, ways of thinking, intelligence, etc.;

– personal, for example, the ability to work in a team, listen to the opinions of others, and be tolerant of different points of view.

Of course, it is impossible to develop complex skills in one lesson (for example, to instill critical thinking). However, small steps can be planned to help students develop these skills. Moreover, introducing broad, complex goals into the lesson context is more conducive to the professional growth of teachers in the group. Some more details about goal setting will be discussed below.

Another important nuance: although a specific lesson is planned for a specific teacher, when planning it is worth considering that the same lesson could potentially be taught by each of the teachers with minor modifications.

Step 4. Working out the structure of the lesson

As a rule, teachers begin the discussion by telling each other how they would teach a similar lesson or how they have already solved similar problems. Thus, teachers share their teaching experience and exchange ideas. To maintain focus on children's learning, teachers recall how children have coped or struggled with similar materials in the past.

The structure of the lesson should be consistent with the lesson objectives discussed earlier. One more nuance must be taken into account: learning results must be potentially measurable and visible. The results of observations may be visible, written works students, interviews after the lesson. This is very important for teachers to trace the relationship between the teacher’s actions and the children’s reactions.

During planning, teachers try to “put themselves in the shoes of the students” and think about how they would perceive what is happening in the lesson, how they would act, and what they would be able to comprehend.

There is one modification of the lesson study technology (lesson study), which seems to me very useful: among the students of the class in which the observation will take place, three specific students are selected: weak, average, strong - they are representatives of focus groups. Therefore, during the lesson, teachers observe not so much the entire class, but rather these specific children. Identifying different groups of students is important for lesson planning: goals are written for each group of schoolchildren according to their strength, which makes the lesson more suitable for all children.

Step 5. Drawing up a lesson report by the teacher

To do this, all stages of work in the lesson and the expected results according to a certain scheme are prescribed.

Lesson activity and/or teacher actions – learning objectives – observation results 14

Step 6. Conducting a lesson by one of the teachers

All group members attend the lesson and take notes on observation sheets. The teachers present may have the common task of observing each of the selected students. Each teacher may have a more specific, specific task.

Before the lesson, it is important for the teacher to explain to the students that other teachers will be present during the lesson. Their goal is to observe what is happening in the lesson, and not to evaluate the performance of each person.

After the lesson, observing teachers can ask additional questions of the three students they observed. The questions should directly relate to the goals that were set for each of them before the start of the lesson.

Step 7. Discussion and revision of the lesson

After the observation, the group meets again to discuss which goals were met and which were not. Accordingly, teachers suggest how the lesson design can be improved.

There is one key rule for discussion: discuss what happened to the students, how certain types of work affected them, but do not touch the teacher in any way.

When using lesson research technology, the focus is on the children, and the responsibility lies not with the teacher who conducted the lesson, but with the whole group.

Lesson analysis can take place in two stages (within one or two meetings): first, what teachers saw in children’s learning is discussed, then suggestions are made on how to improve those aspects of the lesson with which difficulties arose.

Step 8 (optional). Re-teaching a lesson

If possible, another teacher teaches the modified version of the lesson in his class, or the same teacher teaches the lesson in a new class. But this is not always possible: for example, if there is only one parallel at school, then you will have to wait next year to re-teach the lesson.

Step 9. Synthesis and dissemination of work results

Agree, it’s a shame to work for 1-2 months and not receive evidence of success. As a rule, for each lesson developed, a document is drawn up in which the lesson, its results, and methodological recommendations are presented.

Lesson study in modern schools

For example, in Japan, the lesson study system arose on a voluntary basis - while some references to the methodology are found in the literature of the beginning of the last century. This system of school improvement is still voluntary, although it is supported by law. Schools that have lesson study groups have a special status (“research schools”).

The technique itself is used quite widely. For example, state-funded advanced training courses may take the form of lesson studies. Inter-school groups often exist. In addition, schools practicing this approach periodically organize seminars in which each school describes its acquired experience.

In the post-Soviet space, a project to introduce a methodology for exchanging experience on lesson study technology was carried out by the Institute of Education of the National Research University Higher School of Economics in 2013-2016 in three regions of Russia: the Moscow and Yaroslavl regions, and the Republic of Karelia. Several dozen schools are in difficult social conditions (for example, a large proportion of children are registered with the KDN, a low percentage of parents with higher education, a high proportion of children with Russian as a second language), adapted this technique to the needs of their organizations. Based on the results of three years of work, the majority of directors noted an increase in educational results and changes in the school climate.15

In Kazakhstan, at the Center for Pedagogical Excellence, this methodology is used for the professional training of teachers throughout the country. A whole collection of successful cases of its implementation has been collected16.

In other words, this technology works and can be adapted in Russia: even with a heavy workload of teachers, even in the absence of a tradition of joint lesson planning, etc.

What difficulties might you encounter?

Teacher resistance

It’s terribly uncomfortable to teach a lesson in front of a group of colleagues who evaluate the teacher’s performance step by step. You can soften the situation a little by making it clear that all teachers are on an equal footing and that everyone goes through the test of publicity. Another possible consolation: during observation, it is not the actions of the teacher that are assessed, but the reactions of the students. The goal is to understand how children learn and what influences them.

Of course, at school there cannot be any punitive measures against teachers if they do not succeed in everything at once. Observing lessons should not be seen as a threat to your career, but rather as a chance to develop it.

Scheduling

Meetings should be held regularly and quite often - preferably twice a week or more often. Therefore, the implementation of the lesson study program must be included in the schedule every quarter, taking into account which teachers are in which groups. In addition, you need to set aside time for at least some of the teachers in the group to attend lessons.

Differences in subjects and levels of study

It is possible that at the beginning of the introduction of this technology, the groups will be quite heterogeneous, since a large group of proactive teachers is not always recruited. For example, if a high school math class requires fairly broad knowledge, it may be difficult for teachers of other subjects to understand the specific features of that subject. In any case, it is important to focus on the pedagogical side of improvement.

Exercise. Measurable or not?

Target: practice setting measurable goals for lesson observation

Suppose teachers set the goals described below in this exercise for an upcoming English lesson. Which ones seem measurable to you and which ones don't? How can you get visible, objective results on these goals, if possible? How would you reformulate some of the goals to make them observable? What type (subject, meta-subject, personal) does each of the goals belong to? Is it possible to potentially achieve this goal in one lesson?17

1. Contribute to the development of speech culture.

2. To update students’ knowledge about the future tense of an English verb.

3. As a result of the lesson, students will be able to find in the proposed text all the verbs in English times Future I and Future II.

4. Create conditions for developing the ability to summarize information from the text.

5. Use at least 5 new words on the topic “National holidays” in a dialogue with a partner. We are talking about weak students.

6. Check your ability to correctly use verbs in the future tense.

7. Highlight the main idea of ​​the authentic text you listened to.

8. Do exercise X on page Y.

9. Create conditions for practicing the ability to talk about national holidays of Great Britain and the USA.

10. Promote the development of tolerance and interest in other nationalities.

For convenience, enter your answers into the table:

Exercise. Formation of subject triads for lesson research

Target: this task will allow us to find teachers to form the first research groups

For this form of interaction, at least three teachers are needed. I suggest looking first within subject associations (this exercise is possible if your school has more than three teachers of the same subject). If you have completed the study “Social capital of an educational organization”, then pay attention to all three patterns of connections within the organization (personal, current and potential professional connections). Are there at least one of the diagrams a triad of teachers who teach one subject (or are included in one methodological association)? If yes, then just write down the names of these people.

Then pay attention to incomplete triads, that is, those in which one mutual connection is missing to form a three. For example, see the picture below.

If there were a mutual connection between teachers numbered 31 and 98, or 2 and 84, or 16 and 79, or 80 and 84, a complete triad could be formed. Such designs with one weak, that is, incomplete, connection can also be quite productive.

Think about who might be the leader of this group. What other teachers in the subject can be connected to this trio?

If you haven't taken the study, try to draw on a piece of paper yourself groups and pairs of teachers between whom there are mutual connections. Do you think there are other teachers in the team who “reach out” to these microgroups? Once you have a group or several groups of three or more people, you can start planning the start of a lesson study with them.

Method 5: Action Research

Surely there is a teacher in your school (hopefully more than one) whom you are proud of, who does everything well. At the same time, if you ask him (or her) what exactly this teacher does to achieve high results, most likely, the teacher will begin to speak in general phrases (about love for children, dedication to the profession...). This is understandable, but such common phrases are usually of little help to those who want to learn teaching skills.

Often good teachers do good things in the classroom without thinking about their actions, intuitively. But this does not mean that others (who have less developed pedagogical intuition) cannot learn the same thing. The goal is to study the lessons of teachers (not just successful ones), find what works (and doesn’t work) in them, and replicate successful experiences.

This section is about action research. The work of a teacher is very dynamic: some words, techniques, exercises can motivate students and influence their lives. Some pass by quite safely or even kill the students’ interest. Now at school there are many various techniques and educational technologies that improve teaching. Moreover, many of them, as research shows, are effective, but only for a certain school or class. Is it possible to understand what works and how, what changes students? To do this you need to study the lesson. The action research methodology offers rules and methodological developments on how best to do this.

A huge advantage of this approach is that even one teacher can work within the framework of a research approach to school lessons. Action research can start with one specific question. For example, Can praise motivate weak students? In what forms of group work are students most involved in the process? How can including parents in the learning process affect academic performance?

A research question can be one that is of interest to the teacher himself (1), is related to student learning (2) and potentially involves the opportunity to obtain measurable results (3).

Let us explain the above points.

1) Personal interest comes first for a reason. One scientist I know often repeated: “There is no torture more sophisticated than writing a dissertation on a topic that is not interesting to you.” Although the teacher's room research usually easier than a dissertation, despondency will not do you any good. The question stems from a personal professional interest or from shared school-wide goals (kudos to those schools that have them).

2) All methods for improving the quality of a lesson fundamentally focus on how children learn, what is changing in their world. In this regard, action research is no exception. There are many interesting unanswered research questions out there, but the only ones that can really improve practice are those that relate to the learning process.

3) Measurability may not seem like the most obvious point to some, but it is one of the most important. It happens that a teacher can get carried away with some technique. Let’s say, get carried away with using an interactive whiteboard (which in itself is not bad): it’s fun for the children, it’s easier for the teacher. But this technique will not necessarily improve academic performance or arouse children’s interest outside the lesson. Therefore, only areas in which before and after measurements can be taken are suitable for school research. It doesn't have to be academic performance or grades. You can measure, for example, involvement and the development of specific skills (nowadays it is customary to say “competencies”).

Alone in the field - who?

Although we said above that the study can be started by one teacher, this does not mean that this configuration is optimal. Of course, it is much better when such a research approach is adopted by the entire school.

I'll try to look into it different ways research in action.

One teacher. This may not be the easiest way to move a school forward, but if it's the only way to start making changes, it's worth a try. The teacher gets acquainted with the general idea and research methodology in action. Then he is reflective about his practice, studies his own experience, its impact on students - and draws conclusions based on this. On occasion (at a teachers' meeting, for example), a teacher can present the results of research in the hope that others will like his experience.

During the course of the study, the teacher begins to be more attentive and critical of what he is doing and takes a closer look at the children. The results won't take long to arrive!

A couple of teachers. Such a dyad, most likely, should be based on mutual interest or personal sympathies, special requirements for status in the organization. During the work, one teacher poses a research question and begins to introduce new actions, and the second (observer) seeks to monitor how this affects the students’ learning. In the same way, then the second teacher tries to find the answer to his question, and the first helps with observations and sound advice. The research of both teachers can be devoted to either one general issue or separate, personal ones.

The advantage of this way of working is that you can be more objective. First, if a teacher is introducing a new approach alone, he may be so engrossed in the process that he will not notice that nothing has changed in the lesson. Secondly, a second person helps collect data (observes the lesson, interviews students). Plus, a pair of teachers are more likely to draw inspiration from each other and not get fed up after a month or two.

Group of three or more teachers. As a rule, the group works on one common problem, although the research questions may differ somewhat. For example, the entire team analyzes the features of group work or the effectiveness of the system-activity approach. In this case, each participant takes on a separate “clearing”. The observation results are discussed at general group meetings. This is how teachers draw inspiration from each other. This group typically operates as a professional learning community.

Although, it seems to me, the most important thing is not the individual discoveries of the group members, not useful techniques or even teaching skills, not improvements in individual classes and individual students. The most important thing is that the teacher begins to think differently. If he adopts an inquiry-based approach to teaching and focuses on how children learn, he begins to grow professionally, and continually. Not once every three years for 72 hours on external courses, but about 800 hours per year (or what is the average workload per year at your school?). Can you imagine how the organization will improve if the continuous improvement approach becomes a school-wide trend?

School as a whole. If the school has a certain concept pedagogical development, this opens up a new path for her - training the entire organization. I believe that only management gurus and motivational geniuses can achieve this. But why not strive for the ideal? For example, a school may have several areas of development: teachers are assigned to priority areas, form research groups and systematically exchange experience between groups.

How to build a research methodology?

By tradition, we will describe the process of constructing a study step by step.

Step 1: Identify the problem. School research begins with a practical problem. Analyze what you are not doing well and what you want to improve. Maybe the school has some special population (difficult or gifted children, children with special needs, etc.) and it is not always clear how to work with them?

Step 2. Finding the best way . People often like to say that in many areas there is no need to reinvent the wheel. There really are many directions and approaches in pedagogy (however, sometimes I am very sorry that so little beautiful stuff has been translated into Russian). The task of the teacher-researcher is to find the best bicycle ever invented. For example, you have identified a problem. Most likely (99% probability) that to one degree or another this problem has already been worked on by someone. Look in scientific and professional literature, you may not even disdain teacher forums.

At this stage, you need to understand what actions you can take and how to cope.

Step 3: Formulation of the research question. This is a basic, key action. The research question should subsequently guide your actions: your steps and aspects to observe.

Let's say you have some formulation. Now you need to answer all the questions from the list. If there is at least one answer “no”, then you need to look for your question further.

Are you personally interested in this? Can such research generate inner drive?

Research takes time and effort, let's face it. This is a relatively long-term project. If the teacher is not interested in him, then the chances of success are reduced by an order of magnitude.

Can this question be answered through research? Can results be measured?

For example, the question: “Can mnemonics help students more effectively (compared to standard memorization) remember vocabulary on a new topic in English?” – potentially has a clear “yes” or “no” answer. Let's say a teacher measures how many words about a topic, on average, students can recall two weeks after completing the topic. Then the teacher introduces mnemonic techniques and takes another measurement two weeks later.

Do you have enough resources to conduct such research?

The topic of school research, as a rule, should be narrow. All domestic and world pedagogy cannot be improved by the results of one study. Your task is to understand what is best for you, your school, and your students. There is no need to pose global questions. But to understand whether the use of group work techniques can increase the involvement of weak students in the learning process is quite possible!

Does this have anything to do with how children learn?

Action research is essentially what it sets out to do - to teach children to become better learners. Otherwise, there is no point in starting quasi-scientific games.

More good advice– contact one of your colleagues and show them this research question. From the outside, flaws are more visible.

Step 4. Do not trust anyone or anything except your own experience. At this stage, the teacher directly conducts the research. At step No. 2, there is a search for what should work, the right theories. But until a teacher tests how a particular theory works in his class, it is not alive.

At this step you need to answer such questions.

How to collect data and what kind? Who will help collect them? It is important for the teacher to trace the dynamics of what has changed. (A chapter in the Appendix is ​​devoted to data collection)

What action to take? The approach is called “Action Research”. For example, there is situation “A”, then the teacher takes a certain action - the result is situation “B”. What is this action?

And one more small warning: perhaps not one educational technology does not work like a magic wand: I purred some kind of spell and immediately everything changed. At the stage of introducing a new pedagogical action, you need to roughly imagine how many lessons it will take, firstly, for the teacher to learn how to use this technique, and secondly, for it to have an effect on the children. How long does this take? Unfortunately, no one will give an exact answer.

Step 5: Summarize using an observation sheet. So, most of the journey has been completed. Let's say you've chosen a problem, asked a question, and done your research. What does the data say? What has changed and by how much? How would you interpret the results? Is it possible to somehow improve the action?

Step 7. Continue working. School research in action is not a dissertation that many defend, hang their diploma on the wall and conveniently forget. Research into teaching practice is an ongoing process. As soon as you finish one study, after a short break (if necessary), you take step #1 again.

But here's a little advice: as a rule, you shouldn't start new topic from scratch. Maybe during the first study some related questions arose, the teacher’s problem areas were discovered? Continuity is a good idea for action research.

Pitfalls and reefs

Action research is honestly not the easiest way to improve lessons. It is dynamic, effective, attractive, but not simple... Maybe the following few tips will help you avoid common pitfalls.

1. Be prepared for “non-scientific” questions and methods at first.

Imagine a typical scientist. He studied for 4-5 years at a bachelor’s or specialist’s degree, and there, of course, there was talk about research methods (this compulsory subject for almost all specialties). Perhaps then there was a master's degree of 1-3 years and 3-4 years of graduate school, during which he continued to be taught research methods. And despite all this preparation, many scientists make serious mistakes in research methodology. Therefore, you should not expect perfection from teaching works (especially the first ones). The topic may be too broad, the measurement methods may not necessarily be adequate. Therefore, if your colleague makes such mistakes, try to be more loyal. Suggest ways to improve rather than criticize.

2. Make sure your research questions are worded positively.

For example, you need to prove that some good technique works, and not that some bad one doesn’t work. Often a research question turns out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy: if a teacher believes something helps, it is actually more likely to work. And vice versa.

3. Overcome possessiveness

This does not happen in all schools, but often directors or teachers complain that in the team it’s every man for himself. For example, a teacher has found some kind of pedagogical gold mine and is very jealous of his knowledge. What if others start preparing better Olympiad athletes according to my patterns than I do? If you are a school administrator, try to ensure that there is no negative “social competition” in school: whoever scores higher on an exam gets more money.

Exercise. “Researchable” or not?

Target: practice writing good research questions.

In English there is a good adjective, researchable, which cannot be translated into Russian in one word. It means that a question can be researched. Below is a list of questions. In your opinion, on the basis of which of them can a study be based, and which ones are prone to errors?

– Why are some children in my class so noisy and inattentive?

– Does the use of formative assessment in lessons allow underperforming students improve your math scores?

– Will multilevel homework increase the percentage of completion?

– How does the introduction of health-saving technologies affect first-graders?

– How will the free choice of topics for writing essays affect the attitude of 9th grade students to essays and their grades?

– Why doesn’t group work allow low-performing children to improve their grades?

– Does the technique of independently asking questions to the text allow you to increase your understanding of complex texts?

– How introducing daily 5-minute tasks will help children learn English language?

– Why is the flipped lesson technology not suitable for 5th grade students?

– As a task homework, which needs to be done with parents, will affect the success of 3rd grade students in the Russian language?

Look again at those questions that seem wrong. How would you reformulate them? Do you think answering these questions would help improve the quality of teaching in your school?18

Exercise. Selection of research methods

Target: This assignment will give you practice in planning school research.

For adjusted research questions, try to think through teacher measurement methods and activities in the classroom. In other words, answer three questions.

How to measure current status (i.e., which data collection methods to choose: survey, test, or observation sheets)?

What action (and for how long) should the teacher take to increase the planned indicators?

How and when to measure the final state (will the set of monitoring tools change)?

The more specific you can plan, the better. You may find specific measuring materials in this book or other sources.

Exercise. Leadership Research

Target: plan your own management research

Action research is used not only in pedagogy, but also in almost all other fields of the humanities. Management is no exception. What issue would you, as a leader in your organization (whether formal or not), choose for action research?

Try to go all the way from start to finish: problem formulation – literature research – research planning – measuring results – analysis. Are you, as a leader, ready to take on your own research project?

Method 6. Coaching teachers

More experienced teachers teach less experienced ones - this is a familiar and understandable structure. But classic mentoring is not always effective. Often the mentor is carried away by abstract teachings - from the height of his age and experience. Therefore, communication turns out to be quite one-way. In this case, a beginner usually comes to the mentor and watches the lessons. And much less often the other way around. Key phrase describing mentoring: “Do as I do and you will be a good teacher.”

But is it always possible to copy someone else's experience? And is it productive? Maybe it's more efficient to get it yourself mine experience – usually through trial and error? And then learn from it?

I remember one story about this from my student life. Once in my last year I had a brilliant professor on communication theory. Often, when entering the audience, she addressed us as “children.” Considering her age and status, this rather made the atmosphere less formal and more conducive to discussion. But somehow the professor was replaced by her graduate student. She addressed us as “guys” several times. But this only caused silent indignation and rejection. In other words, what is allowed to Jupiter is not allowed to the bull: the methods and “tricks” of an experienced teacher will not necessarily work for someone else.

To avoid top-down communication and direct copying, you can try teacher coaching. His key phrase: “Become more effective as a teacher, I will support you in this.” This approach in the Russian context can be considered as an alternative to mentoring. But it is only good if it is truly different from mentoring. The main advantage of coaching is its focus on the practice of the student teacher and the effect of his actions in the classroom.

What is “coaching” and who is a “coach”?

"Coaching" comes from English word“coach”, which translates as “trainer”. Initially, only sports specialists were called coaches, but then the concept of “coaching” spilled over into other areas.

It is generally accepted that this idea was introduced into widespread circulation by the British tennis coach Timothy Gallwey (sometimes you can find the Russian translation of the surname - Gallway). His book “The Inner Game of Tennis” laid down the principles of coaching: a specialist, together with his coachee, sets specific, achievable goals. The role of the coach is that, with the help of deep, leading questions, he clarifies true goals motivates a person to win and helps overcome difficulties.

How does a coach differ from, for example, a mentor? As a rule, the mentor knows from his experience how to do it and gives the mentee ready-made recipes. The coach helps set specific goals, and the trained teacher is completely free to choose the means. The coach supports and selects a “training program”. For example, a sports coach and a football player set a goal - to score at least 4 penalties out of 5. At the same time, the coach carefully records statistics, looks closely at the hitting technique, and discusses the situation with the athlete. It’s the same with a coach at school: first, they set a specific goal together (for example, create a situation of success for at least three students per lesson). The specialist, as in sports, carefully monitors the student teacher, records his actions and the reactions of the students, then together they discuss what worked and how to improve what is not going well.

A coach is also different from a leader. Because a leader is someone who sets a value system and leads. Rather, a coach helps the teacher clarify his own values ​​and follows him.

This technology can work well if you build interactions between teachers of different statuses. For example, if you have several experienced teachers who could positively influence other colleagues. The peculiarity of coaching is that it involves a set of applied tools, sharply tuned for effectiveness and tested by practice.

End of introductory fragment.