Political dilemmas will be associated with resistance from various stakeholders when school and organizational norms are questioned and routines of privilege and authority are disturbed.
Some Examples:
- My head of department observed me and said that I did not teach any meaningful skills in class, the students just talked and came up with some ideas.
- The school board is worried that I am not teaching the material in a way that the students will be able to pass the state standards test.
- The parents are upset that I have flipped the class and that students have to learn and teach on their own while I just listen.
- The students are upset that the other teachers are learning different things from their teachers and feel left behind.
- What if the students actually learn how to use Chemical Thinking and can demonstrate their knowledge to me, but fail standardized tests because they are unfamiliar with the question.
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What you might hear teachers say: |
A question you might ask to encourage discussion about the dilemma: |
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My department chair/principal observed me and said that I did not teach any meaningful skills in class; the students just talked and came up with some ideas. |
How might we help school leaders understand the shift in thinking, roles, and expectations when using the Chemical Thinking Framework? |
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The school/district insists I teach the material in ways they think maximize student scores on standardized tests. |
How might students learn to demonstrate their understanding in ways that show alignment with the standards? |
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It takes so much time to have students construct this knowledge, I don’t think I can finish the entire curriculum. |
In what ways does using the Chemical Thinking Framework leverage learning differently? |