Creative Learning Facilitator
Talking Points and FAQ for this New RVSD Position
How and Why Was this Position Created?
In September, 2006, the River Valley School District Board of Education signed a Letter of Intent with the Spring Green Center for Creativity and Innovation. This Letter calls for “strengthening further the link between the community’s schools and the richness and diversity of community resources as a means of providing creative and innovative learning opportunities to classrooms and students.” Its goal is to “significantly enhance RVSD’s already strong reputation for creativity and innovation and to effect a positive, long-term impact on school enrollment and on the recognition of the River Valley community as a great place to work and live.” The half-time, year-round Creative Learning Facilitator (CLF) position is the centerpiece of C4C and RVSD’s commitment to achieving this goal.
The idea for the CLF was born out of the recognition that the Spring Green area has a long history of attracting and being hospitable to innovators and artists; moreover, that it continues to be uniquely blessed with an abundance of creative individuals – not only in the arts, but in business, education, agriculture, government, and community life as well. The CLF position was the answer to the question, “How can we make sure that this abundance is fully available as a learning resource for our children?” Thus, rather than being created out of the perception of a deficiency, the CLF was the result of recognizing the breadth and depth of our community assets.
What Will the CLF Actually Do?
Working in collaboration with faculty and staff at the RV schools, the CLF will be an agent for bringing expert and/or proven resources into the classroom. These resources might involve an individual or a number of individuals; they might involve facilities or equipment not available within the schools themselves; they might involve technologies; they might involve finding ways for an individual student to pursue an interest or a talent outside the classroom. Whether such resources will be carefully identified and assembled as a first project, or gradually accumulated over time, clearly an inventory of available persons, organizations, facilities, and technologies is a desirable outcome.
Another inventory may involve a collaboration among all the agents of a school system – students, teachers, staff, parents, volunteers – for the purpose of identifying breakthrough tools and methodologies that are already being used in classrooms, in assembly halls, on practice fields, etc., and discovering which of these may be applied or adapted to other disciplines, curricula, and learning situations.
The CLF will also be uniquely positioned to do what no single person in a school district has the time to do; that is, to examine and evaluate the various “innovations in education” that we hear so much about, to make a determination about which ones are appropriate and feasible here at River Valley, and to bring those that “rise to the top” to the attention of teachers and administrators. “Discrimination” – the ability to select the best from among many options – and “judgment” – the ability to determine what is a good fit for River Valley – are two essential attributes of the CLF.
The CLF will also be a key member of the team that designs and provides continuing education and training opportunities to both instructional and support staffs.
“Breakthrough” may be the one word that best represents what all of the CLF’s qualities, faculties, and energies will be focused on. Put another way: how to make a positive, measurable difference for learners. And even in those situations where all the indicators are good: how to make that success continuous.
Can you give me an example of how the CLF functions as a link to resources?
Intel now sponsors the national Science Talent Search contest formerly sponsored by Westinghouse. It would be great to have at least one River Valley student applying each year to this competition. As might be expected, however, it is not a one-step process; neither is it one that can be negotiated easily by a student and teacher alone. Beyond that, Intel offers a variety of programs, training opportunities, and incentives for students, teachers, and school districts, especially those that are not well-endowed. There are hundreds of other such exciting opportunities out there for kids and staff at every grade level, but many require an extra measure of legwork – and who has the time to delve into them, let alone figure out which ones are a good fit for River Valley or for an individual classroom or student?
There are a multitude of community people who may serve as guest speakers for various subject areas and classes; specialty career connections can be explored; and unique learning experiences may result from the tapping of these resources. The CLF might help the technology education teacher hook up with area auto restoration business owners (and RV alumni). Younger students might visit area artists to see how paper (or pottery or fine jewelry) is made. The business class might like to hear, first hand, how Cardinal Glass has introduced Japanese efficiency techniques. And biology and environmental science classes might like to explore, with an expert guide, the flora and fauna of the “Wisconsin Desert” located within a mile of the RV campus.
The state of our knowledge advances. The last ten to fifteen years have seen quantum leaps in our understanding of how people learn, how they think, how they can learn to think otherwise, and how they can think about learning in different ways. It can take decades for such knowledge to pass through the complex digestive system of the educational establishment and enter the classrooms in which we train teachers, business majors, doctors, etc. A fascinating article in a recent New Yorker magazine uses three instances of medical misdiagnosis to demonstrate that how doctors think can affect their diagnostic success as much as how much they know or how much experience they have. It ends with a quote from a doctor whose misdiagnosis very nearly cost the life of his patient: “Currently, in medical training, we fail to recognize the importance of critical thinking and critical reasoning. The implicit assumption in medicine is that we know how to think. But we don’t.” Apart from its lesson about the importance of critical thinking – which has been recognized and talked about for decades – and the inertia and resistance to change in the institutions that train professionals, this kind of article is a resource in itself, and just one example of the knowledge that a CLF could help to bring to bear on our thinking about learning.
I’m a teacher. Will the CLF save me time? Or will it be another obstacle in my path?
Saving time, at least over the long run, is part and parcel of what a successful “breakthrough agent” should accomplish. It is up to the individual teacher to choose to use, or not to use, the CLF. Any assessment or evaluation role that the CLF may have will involve only those resources that he or she coordinates; or if a teacher invites the CLF to participate in this respect.
So this isn’t just a new spin on “gifted and talented”?
Here’s why not. First, the “Letter of Intent” that was agreed to by the RVSD School Board and the Center for Creativity makes it clear that ALL students – not just the best and the brightest – are to be the beneficiaries of the partnership. Second, the CLF is not an add-on or an “enhancement” position; it has not been designed to restore all those things that budget cuts made expendable. Rather, it is intended to function as a continuous change agent within the system.
Is this an arts initiative?
The arts occupy a small part of the total picture. It is safe to say that the CLF is interested in the basic processes of education irrespective of curricular area. We are beginning to rediscover that creativity and innovation are to be valued no less in math and science, in business, in government, and in community life, than they are in the arts. If the arts can be utilized effectively to bring about a positive result in the science classroom, then its use will be advocated for. And vice versa.
Why isn’t an educational license required for this position?
This matter was given a good deal of thought. On the one hand there is the comfort of an “industry standard” and the instant acceptability of familiar credentials. On the other hand there is the responsibility to remain open to the possibility that change may enter through a different door. In the end it was decided to not make a license a hard and fast requirement for two reasons: First, we trust in the hiring process to provide thorough and rigorous review of candidates’ qualifications. Second, we recognize that experience and credentials outside of the educational arena can and should be valued. We have required a four-year college degree “or its equivalent”—the latter, to allow room for experience (e.g. 15 years in a uniquely qualified and/or related position) and exceptional circumstances (e.g. a conservatory or foreign-based education). In the hiring process, a strong emphasis will be placed on educational background and experience, especially as it relates to: enhancing creative thinking, working collaboratively with others, communicating and presenting professionally, and having demonstrated such abilities in previous work settings.
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(pw 04/18/2007)