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Scenario Design—Researchers designed five scenarios for each major issue that described possible classroom/school situations aligned to the particular issue. Each scenario focused on “putting a face” on the major issue to make it as personal, practical—and real—as possible. The scenarios were designed to capture a participant’s Language of Practice, and therefore each scenario ended with the same question: What do you say?
Data Gathering (Interviews and Literature Review)--Once the local experts were determined, the researchers interviewed those individuals to capture their LoP associated with their particular issue. A literature review for each major issue was also conducted.
Analyze Data--Once the interviews were transcribed, and the literature review was completed, the researchers read the responses and noticed patterns among the both the participants’ LoP and the language of researchers and scholars. Upon further analysis and coding, these patterns produced categories such as words of care, words of accountability, words of hope, words of guidance and many others.
Present Findings and Encourage BPL Adoption—Researchers aligned the language found in the literature with the LoP examples from the local experts and presented these findings as Best Practice Language (BPL) to the faculty at each school. Researchers offered the BPL findings as “raw gold” that could be used and refined by all faculty members.
Adoption and Integration of BPL—BPL is adopted and incorporated into one’s language of practice and results in consistent and promising outcomes. BPL is recognized as an ubiquitous interpersonal skill and respected as a purposeful and technical element of practice that is not overlooked, disregarded, or taken for granted. Its serves as a catalyst for schoolwide reform and the use of BPL spreads throughout the organization.
This powerful model for acquiring the BPL of local experts gave way for the collection of numerous BPL examples for the major issues identified at each school. This collection constituted an individual school report for each school. Below are some examples of BPL for 3 of the major issues identified at all five schools.
| Major Issue: Discipline Disruptions | |
| Best Practice Language Examplesfrom Literature Review and Local Expert InterviewsSample BPL Categories: Words of Connection; Words of Respect for Self and Others; Words of Unity | |
| Words of Connection | |
| BPL Literature ReviewThe quality of teacher-student relationships is the keystone for all other aspects of classroom management. (Marzano&Marzano, 2003, p 4.)Teachers can… Talk informally with students before, during, and after class about their interests.Single out a few students each day in the lunchroom and talk with them.(Marzano&Marzano, 2003, p 6.)“Students are more likely to succeed when they feel connected to school. School connection is the belief by students that adults in the school care about their learning as well as about them as individuals” (Blum, 2005, P. 20). | BPL Examples from Local Experts“When you find out some stuff that they care about, and you start to talk about it, then you have some common ground interest with them.” “What’s the problem?” Why are you responding this way? Why don’t you talk to me and tell me why you are saying these things or acting this way towards another student? I want to know what their feelings are. Why do you feel compelled to say this to the other student?”“If you talk with them and let them talk, then you can resolve a lot of these issues without what we typically think of as discipline and so I talk to the kids. Find out what’s going on and what’s driving their feelings of aggression.” |
| Words of Respect for Self and Others | |
| BPL Literature ReviewWhen disruptions occur, successful teachers think about the causes of misbehavior and respond to students as individuals, using disruptions as teachable moments and opportunities to model self-discipline. (Strahan, Cope, Hundley&Faircloth, 2005, p. 26). “We are in this classroom together. I want to help you become competent or go beyond. My job is to teach you and help you learn, not to find out what you don’t know and punish you for not knowing it” (Glasser, 2001, p. 113). | BPL Examples from Local ExpertsWhen students are distracting other students from the school lesson at hand…I would say, “If you have something you would like to share with someone else, wait until I finish my lesson then we will give you the opportunity to discuss what you have to say.”I will go into what I mean by respecting each other. I will ask them “What is it that you expect out of me?” And I will tell them what I expect out of them.“I respect you, you respect me.” |
| Words of Unity | |
| BPL Literature ReviewCooperation is characterized by a concern for the needs and opinions of others. (Marzano&Marzano, 2003, p 4.)We will not find the solution to problems of violence, alienation, ignorance, and unhappiness in increasing our security apparatus, imposing more tests, punishing schools for their failure to produce 100 percent proficiency, or demanding that teachers be knowledgeable in “the subjects they teach.” Instead, we must allow teachers and students to interact as whole persons, and we must develop policies that treat the school as a whole community. The future of both our children and our democracy depend on our moving in this direction. (Noddings, 2005, p. 13). | BPL Examples from Local Experts“The main thing is to let them know what I expect and I tell them what to expect from me. I do not try to change in the middle of the year. I stick to what I said in the beginning of the year and I follow through. I talk with them about teacher responsibility, student responsibility, and how to be responsible in the classroom.” “We all have to uphold the expectations so that everyone can learn so we must all work together. If you are talking too much, then you are interfering with someone else’s learning process.”“From the very first day of class we set up ground rules. We work together to complete those ground rules throughout the year. It allows students to have some ownership.” |
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