What Are Your Personal Standards?
When teachers get together and talk shop, the topic of standards often arises. Whether state content standards or Common Core Standards, most teachers are constantly thinking about them. They drive curriculum design, the pacing of content delivery, and student assessment. They're essential in the daily lives of teachers. They function like the educator's ten commandments, except there are more than - many more than - ten for each subject area. The standards are written in stone, and to question them signals apathy, inflexibility, and ignorance. After all, the standards are the standards.
At the same time, teachers who hold standards as sacred often speak amongst themselves about how they are unobtainable. They aren't developmentally appropriate, reasonable, or easy for many of their students to master. There are too many standards to teach in one quarter, semester, or academic year.
More than 40 years after the beginning of the standards movement, it is now safe to say they are here to stay. They can be viewed as a bellwether for student achievement, a structure for content delivery and planning, or a necessary evil. It's not difficult to find teachers, administrators, or parents wanting to change the standards or do away with them altogether. Instead of stressing over and complaining about standards over which we have little or no control, what if we turned the conversation to a set of standards over which we have full control?
Personal standards guide the decisions and actions of all teachers, and they often make the difference between whether a teacher is viewed as good or excellent. These standards are written through the lenses of experience, personal preference, and, in some cases, prejudice. Personal standards can cast a positive light, an indifferent shadow, or a negative darkness. While they do not appear on any district or state-approved document, they filter everything said and done inside the classroom. The students know and understand these standards. Ask, and they will list them one by one. When they talk about the teacher who cares or doesn't care or the teacher who goes the extra mile or doesn't, they are talking about the teacher's personal standards.
In many state and district teacher evaluation schemes, personal standards are covered under professionalism, classroom culture, or classroom environment. They are revealed through teacher-to-student interactions and student behavior, as well as in the physical classroom setting. The easiest way to observe personal standards is through teacher expectations of students. Teachers with high, rigorous personal standards push every student to achieve more. Teachers with low personal standards often go through the motions of teaching but don't expect much from their students. For these teachers, the standards contain words like can't, don't, and never.
Why don't teachers discuss these standards more in faculty meetings, Professional Learning Communities, or conferences and workshops? Teacher attitudes and convictions about how students learn, and whether they are capable or learning at all, can determine whether students succeed or fail. It's easier to talk about standards written by an anonymous educator who teaches in a faraway place. It's much more difficult to have a discussion about what makes us tick, what keeps us awake at night, and what we fear the most. But it's a discussion that needs to happen for the sake of our students.
While personal standards are often unwritten, they shouldn't be. Every teacher should write their standards and have them checked by a trusted colleague. For courageous teachers in upper grades, their students could also examine the standards. What would the people say that know you and your beliefs about teaching?
When colleagues analyze and evaluate personal standards, they should be published for everyone to see. How can standards be met unless everyone involved knows and understands them? Imagine what it would be like for a student or parent to receive a list of a teacher's standards and a short list of how the teacher intends to meet those standards.
Are we ready for this sort of self-evaluation? The standards we set for ourselves are often the hardest to realize. However, due to countless factors that influence our expectations and perceptions, the standards we set for our students are often too easily realized. If we can refine and strengthen our personal standards, meeting those other standards won't be such a tall order. This self-evaluation is not a burden, but an opportunity for growth and improvement. It's a chance to become the best educators we can be for our students.
