Welcome to Insights from Educate, a curated weekly newsletter of professional learning and inspiration from authentic voices in education.
I am sure many of you were just as appalled as I was when this video was released of a Florida principal paddling a young child, while her mother secretly filmed it no less.
Using a paddle to discipline a student is referred to as corporal punishment and is surprisingly legal in 19 states. F. Chris Curran, Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Florida, writes:
“In the 2015-2016 school year, more than 92,000 public school students were paddled or spanked at the hands of school personnel, with most of these incidents concentrated in fewer than 10 states, mostly in the South.”
I attended and graduated high school from a very small town in Alabama, where disciplinary paddling was the norm. I regularly watched as students, especially boys, were pulled out of class to be paddled for various offenses. At the time, I had no idea that this was considered abnormal in most parts of the country. In the deep south, parents left teachers and admin to discipline their children as they saw fit.
Despite my experiences, I am just as surprised as many of you to learn that corporal punishment is still in use today. Professor Curran notes that the continued use of paddling is contentious as most school decisions are left to local school boards. He writes: “Unfortunately, research suggests that this deference to local decisions to use corporal punishment is harmful for students.” State governments are reluctant to wade into issues that they feel are best left to local communities to solve.
Existing research on the impact of corporal punishment reveals, unsurprisingly, that this practice targets mostly boys and students of color. Many organizations recommend the banning of corporal punishment, but the U.S. has not yet banned this practice, even though at least 100 other countries have.
Policy experts and educational leaders recognize restorative practices and positive behavior interventions as alternatives to corporal punishment. Rarely do children learn how to behave by avoiding physical harm. Involving students in discussions and methods that help students directly rectify their mistakes and bad decision-making is far more effective in the long run.
Like many educators around the world, I strongly believe in relationship-based teaching. When we take the time to connect with our students, then we can create support systems that teach children that it’s okay to make mistakes, learn from them, and then rectify them when possible.
We are in the business of educating, not punishing. Corporal punishment has to stop.
Professional Learning and Inspiration
Revitalising Rubrics
Ryan Campbell, Vice Principal of Curriculum and Learning at Jakarta Intercultural School, and Christian Bokhove, Associate Professor at the University of Southampton, re-visit the benefits of utilizing rubrics in assessment practices. More specifically, the authors aim to address criticisms of using rubrics and present design parameters and possible limitations that will aid educators in the appropriate and meaningful use of rubrics in the classroom. Four practitioner implications are provided to provide more flexibility and guidance to educators as they continue to utilize this important tool.
The authors conclude:
“The utility of the rubric as a simple and easy to use formative tool for making the implicit explicit to students means that, far from being in a state of disrepair, the humble rubric does still have a lot of mileage yet.”
Research-Based Practices for Effective School Leadership
Chad Dumas at TeachThought asks: “What do school leaders need to know in order to create a collaborative culture?” Dumas narrows down collaborative leadership to ten essential principles. These elements go further than the common PLC to reflect on principles of adult learning, leading continuous change, and leveraging staff involvement. Dumas argues that leaders need specific skills to make a collaborative environment work and states: “Creating a community of professionals who are learning together takes hard work, focused attention, and clear priorities.”
Hexagonal Thinking Enters Classrooms
The Cult of Pedagogy podcasts interviewed Betsy Potash to explore a relatively new concept to the classroom known as hexagonal thinking. In hexagonal thinking, new ideas and connections are made to create fresh frameworks for discussion and the development of creativity. Potash describes this as:
“When you give a small group of students a deck of hexagons and ask them to connect them however they choose, every group will come up with a different web for different reasons. Along the way they’ll hopefully question each other and dig deep into the concepts on the cards, arguing about which idea connects more to an important concept and which example deserves one of those precious six sides.”
The beauty of hexagonal thinking is that it gives students the time and space to explore their own ideas, creating their own connections to the content and to each other. Visit the Cult of Pedagogy website for examples and templates to help you get started.
Education News and Research
Joanne W. Golann, Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Education at Vanderbilt University, delineates the ten most striking things she observed at a “no excuses” charter school. Professor Golann noted the controversial harsh disciplinary measures that exist in the no-excuse model and also commented on the student’s perspective of navigating demanding expectations. She writes: “One of the original visions for charter schools was to create spaces for teachers to experiment with innovative practices and for communities to create schools that reflected local cultures and needs. Instead, no-excuses charters employ a carefully maintained structure that limits the autonomy of both teachers and students.”
Jackie Mader atThe Hechinger Report comments on a growing number of studies that continue to support the importance of play in the development of children. The report, comprising 26 studies in 18 countries, focuses on using play to reduce inequalities and address mental health concerns in children. Mader writes: “Experts say opportunities to play are essential for helping kids process their feelings and changes in their life, especially after the past year of disruption and trauma.” The inclusion of play during the school day can help students to de-stress and process their feelings following a year of upheaval to their normal schedules.
Senator Dick Durban (D. ILL) opines for The Hill that in order to reverse teaching shortages, we need to provide reasons for teachers to stay in the profession. Teacher pay has continued to worsen, unable to keep up with the rising cost of living. Senator Durban has proposed the Retaining Educators Takes Added Investment Now (RETAIN) Act to provide a tax credit to teachers at Title I schools. He writes: “In order to ensure that we incentivize experience, the tax credit increases at key inflection points in an educator’s career — points where they are more likely to leave.” While teacher pay is only one part of the puzzle in teacher retention, it is an excellent place to start.
The Latest Articles from Educate.
Change in Curriculum: Mandatory Financial Literacy Courses in Educational Institutions by Dedrick Conway
End School Discipline by Ira David Socol
Holding onto Millennial Teachers: Retention in Historically Marginalized Communities by Dr. Kami Lewis Levin
The Hidden Cost of Fixing the American College Admissions System by Sara Barnes
How to Support LGBTQ+ Students by Melissa Roy
Teaching about Racism in America Is Not ‘Divisive’, Banning the Discussion Is by Lindsay Messoline
SUMMER — Let the Fun and Learning Begin by Jonathan P. Raymond
Grading, COVID, and the End of the Year by Cheyenne Green Vowell
Great Leadership Starts When We Stop Looking Down by Jonathan P. Raymond
Why Do We Believe in Conspiracy Theories? by Dave Smith
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About the Editor
Jennifer Osborne is an experienced educator with graduate degrees in Educational Leadership and Guidance and Counseling. She has taught in five countries across a wide variety of classrooms and schools. Jennifer is passionate about authentic education for students and personalized professional learning for teachers.
Read her Educator’s Bio at Jennifer Osborne Writes.