I recognized that the teachers might have a different perspective and wanted to learn about their views and perspective upon the testing. By the end of the conversation, I had communicated my need for consistent testing and tracking and underscored the need to meet expectations and goals regarding the use of such data as well as learned more about teacher perceptions. Had I entered into the conversation in a confrontational manner I would likely have accomplished less and created an atmosphere of hostility and resistance and also learned less.
5c. Future learning: On the basis of the analysis of your own theory that you have completed, please explain what you think you now need to learn in order to become more skilled in open to learning conversations. Consider what challenges might make this difficult.
During the actual conversation, I believe I was able to approach the subject matter with an open mind, for which...
Together we discussed the value of testing in terms of setting achievable goals for students and the ability of tests to provide information about student achievements.
The challenge of open learning conversations for me is first to have more 'open' and less judgmental theories about teachers' approaches to testing. Seeing how teachers operate in their classrooms through more observations and engaging in more frequent dialogue with teachers can be helpful in terms of broaching the divide between administration and faculty. Ultimately, I believe that becoming skilled at open learning requires having a broad base of information from which to draw, which makes it easier to understand the perspectives of others.
