tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6268754880597709136.post1430679031013589418..comments2012-09-04T22:50:03.503-07:00Comments on Assess This!: Michele Marden and the Blame GameShirlee Geigerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14022860653985482326noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6268754880597709136.post-35440841108119194662011-02-23T12:33:39.923-08:002011-02-23T12:33:39.923-08:00Here is a message from Russell Banks:
At Weiden +...Here is a message from Russell Banks:<br /><br />At Weiden + Kennedy, one of the premier ad agencies in the world(think Nike, Old Spice, etc.), and headquartered right here in<br />Portland, they have an a huge, elaborate sign in their office that says, "Fail Harder."Shirlee Geigerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14022860653985482326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6268754880597709136.post-66512903109304026382011-02-23T10:56:40.533-08:002011-02-23T10:56:40.533-08:00Michele, this is a fantastic post and I applaud yo...Michele, this is a fantastic post and I applaud you for writing it! <br /><br />I, too, have observed (and for too long was a part of) an error denying culture at PCC. Carol Dweck, Stanford psychologist, has been researching and writing about this exact issue for decades. She calls it a "fixed mindset" and a "growth mindset." My husband has also observed the same dynamic at Portland Public schools where he has been teaching for 9 years. I believe that our entire national educational culture (pre-k through graduate school) has been shifting from one of a fixed mindset to a one of a growth mindset. This can be a painful shift, but it can also be exhilarating!<br /><br />In my experience, the result of our largely fixed mindset at PCC has had serious, persistant, and negative consequences for our students - year after year after year. It has had negative implications for our budgets. It has also had negative consequences for our OWN mental health as professionals. I have watched far too many colleagues suffer serious personal consequences as a result of their not feeling as though they are able to effectively address weaknesses at both personal and departmental levels. <br /><br />I want to also expand this discussion of assessment to the rest of PCC life - to management, to AP's and to classified staff. I am not an instructer nor are most of my staff. But I have worked here for 10 years as an AP and now as Interim Director of Upward Bound. I have been voraciously reading this blog because it applies directly to my program as well. We, too, are also in the process of learning how to take personal responsibility for the success of our students and doing this in our own learning community. I applaud those individuals and departments courageous enough to have these honest conversations about how to improve our practice.<br /><br />Finally, I strongly believe that we need to integrate intercultural competency into this assessment discussion in a more transparent way. Intercultural competency is so often thought of as "separate," from the content, but it is not. It is integral to how one effectively teaches content (or supervises staff, or works with students and colleagues, or how one manages budgets). This is a part of effectively working in and preparing our students for a global community and economy. I'd like to hear more about this from everyone. <br /><br />If anyone is interested in reading Dweck's research, below is a PDF of her CV. Her research from about 1987 onward is what mostly applies to this discussion: <br /><br />http://www.stanford.edu/dept/psychology/cgi-bin/drupalm/system/files/Dweck%20CV.pdf<br /><br />Thanks again Michele!<br />Amy Potter<br />Interim Director, Upward BoundUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12756067849788923974noreply@blogger.com