The mini-sabbatical provides teachers with a unique opportunity to learn about today's workplace and draw meaningful connections between the workplace and the classroom. The goal of the mini-sabbatical is to enable teachers to acquire skills and behaviors that will (1) increase their knowledge of work practice; (2) help them create a high-quality, integrated curriculum that incorporates both domain-specific (e.g., academic, technical) and generic (e.g., problem-solving, communications) skills; (3) help them design classrooms that promote authentic learning; and (4) help them develop assessments that provide meaningful feedback to the students and teacher.
In order to accomplish this, teachers participating in the mini-sabbatical will
Almost universally, America's teachers have been trained to teach curricula that are school-based and subject-specific. But federal legislation and school reformers are urging that teachers develop and teach curricula that focus on "generic" skills such as problem solving and teamwork; integrate vocational and academic education; and emphasize "real world" applications, especially applications found in the workplace. Unfortunately, most teachers are being asked to change their practice without the requisite knowledge or the means for acquiring it (Bodilly, Ramsey, Stasz, & Eden, 1992). To make use of the workplace as a context for learning, teachers need (1) knowledge of work and work practice, (2) a new model for classroom design and instruction, and (3) the opportunity to learn and apply both.
We and our colleagues have conducted research to help meet the first two of these needs. Our study of skills requirements for work provided new insight into worksites and their potential contribution for classroom design (Stasz, Ramsey, Eden, Melamid, & Kaganoff, 1996). In addition, we developed and field tested worksite assessment methods, including cognitive task analysis and observation of skills and work context. These methods assess skills required for work at a level which can inform curriculum design. Other work addressed the need for a new model of classroom design and instruction. Two of our studies suggested that practitioners from both vocational and academic disciplines can benefit from an instructional model focused on the teaching of generic skills such as problem solving, cooperation, and dispositions such as persistence and boldness (Stasz, McArthur, Lewis, & Ramsey, 1990; Stasz, Ramsey, Eden, DaVanzo, Farris, & Lewis, 1993). This model, which we refer to as the "Classrooms that Work" model, requires teachers to assess the skills, attitudes, and knowledge required of work and to design lessons and classroom environments that support learning them.
The mini-sabbatical is designed to meet the third need, providing teachers with an opportunity to acquire knowledge of the workplace and new design models and to apply that knowledge in developing and teaching innovative curricula. The mini-sabbatical will also test the utility for teachers of the worksite observation methods and of the "Classrooms that Work" model, as well as the feasibility of requiring teachers to learn to use and apply these tools and to change their practice in a relatively short time.
The six weeks of the mini-sabbatical are divided into three two-week sections; at the end of each section, participants will have acquired important skills and experience that they can use in the future to modify their curricula and teaching. The following is a schematic view of the mini-sabbatical syllabus. A more detailed version appears in Appendix A-1:
In the first two weeks, teachers will learn ethnographic techniques for observing work in worksites and practice using these techniques to extract elements of authentic practice for potential inclusion in curricula. The worksite observation included in this mini-sabbatical emphasizes highly structured and multi-day study of the workplace. Coaching on these observational methods will continue through the week of worksite visitations. Participants' insights and conclusions about the nature of work, relations in the workplace, and tasks will then form the basis of their curriculum design work in the remainder of the mini-sabbatical. These weeks will also include an introduction to the mini-sabbatical as a whole.
In the second two weeks, teachers will apply their observations to curriculum design using the "Classrooms that Work" model. The model integrates various dimensions of the educational setting such as instructional goals, teacher role, student role, and classroom design--and encourages a consistent perspective on managing each of these elements. This model was derived from classroom observation research with teacher and student participants (Stasz et al., 1993). Teachers will use the model together with their worksite observations to develop a short curriculum unit that reflects authentic practice. Teachers will be provided the resources--time, workspace, peer collaboration, and materials--to develop curriculum. The project facilitators will coach and guide teachers to support their active construction of new professional habits of practice.
In the third and final two-week section, teachers will gain experience in teaching and assessing the newly devised curriculum. The mini-sabbatical serves as a partial "proof of concept" of the "Classrooms that Work" model. It tests whether, other things being equal, strengthening a classroom's authentic work context, coupled with redesign of the curriculum in alignment with work-inspired goals, will produce a classroom that is more successful in imparting "generic" vocational skills and attitudes.
The mini-sabbatical follows a professional, adult training model common in industry that relies strongly on the attitudes, knowledge, skills, and experiences that adult participants bring with them. Throughout the mini-sabbatical, trainers will repeatedly call on participants to reflect upon the ways in which their new insights into work and the classroom impact and interact with their own personal perspectives on, and prior experiences with, teaching and learning.
This section contains suggestions for implementing a "Classrooms that Work" mini-sabbatical. We write it with the knowledge that each implementing organization will make changes to fit their resource capabilities and available expertise.
Besides actual instruction, five major functions are important to staff. They include coordination of the following: (1) school and classroom arrangements; (2) teacher recruitment and selection; (3) worksite and mentor recruitment; (4) student recruitment; and (5) administrative arrangements such as clerical support, payroll, and so on. We address the first four functions below. The fifth, administrative arrangements, depends entirely on the implementing organization.
If you are working within a school district, include the local teachers' union and staff development department early in the negotiations. Discuss the recruitment process for teachers and students, stipends, classroom requirements, campus security, informed consent, and permission and liability issues.
This professional development project requires participation of eight to ten active teachers (including one to two teacher trainers), 60 students, and eight to ten worksite mentors. We suggest entering into letter agreements with all participants. Below we detail plans for teacher recruitment and selection.
The following is a proposed breakdown of practitioner participants: eight active academy or magnet teachers and two active teacher trainers. Active teachers will be a mix of teachers with academic, vocational, and technical teaching assignments. Active teacher trainers will come from schools of teacher training, vocational instructor training programs, and school district consultants assigned to staff development. We suggest beginning recruitment of participant teachers and setting stipend amounts in January and February before they commit to other summertime activities.
There are two ideal teacher candidates: one with a positive disposition to the instructional practices that we believe are important, the other a "master" teacher with a neutral attitude about integration but an interest in exploring the possibilities. Don't bother working with persons who are overtly hostile to what the training effort proposes to do.
As part of the recruitment process, teacher candidates complete a survey of their backgrounds, typical practices and preferred ways of working within the educational system (e.g., level of comfort with crosscurricular planning), and desired worksite assignment (see Appendix B-1). Candidates will also submit a work sample: the sample should be a project or instructional unit designed by the teacher that they have found to engage students. Results of the survey and an individual interview are part of the selection process. The interview will provide the opportunity for candidates to question the project staff, discuss the work sample, and clarify survey results. An ideal candidate will want to acquire new skills, to work collaboratively with other teachers, and will agree that worksite observation is useful to this end.
The project director and each teacher will discuss plans for developing a curricular unit and select an appropriate worksite assignment accordingly. The following decisions need to be made about the curricular unit: (1) whether the participant will perfect a project or study unit previously taught or create a new project or study unit; and (2) specify which study units and course will contribute domain-specific content to the project (e.g., engineering aspects of design architecture as part of an Engineering Principles course; project management using GIS application as part of a Technology course; Pythagorean theorem application to engineering and construction as part of an Algebra I course). The project director contacts worksites to effect an appropriate placement.
Contact worksites and recruit ten worksite mentors. An ideal worksite is one that is a current site for work-based learning or internships with established links to schools and assigned mentors. To identify such a site, contact a local high school with an established work-based learning program. Through the high school's program, select candidate worksites and mentors. City or county government agencies, public works, and utilities are an excellent and often overlooked source for worksites and mentors, particularly in technology- and science-related subjects.
A suggested entree protocol includes the following: (1) recruitment letter specifying the desired observation; (2) formal meeting with mentor or other workplace contact; (3) formal agreement with the worksite and mentor. Mentor participation involves the following: serve as key informant during worksite observation week, and serve as contact for teacher participants' questions during weeks 3 and 4 (see Sample Worksite Letter in Appendix B-2). We also invited mentors to serve as reviewers for presentations of the draft curriculum unit (close of week 4) and the final curriculum unit by teachers and students (close of week 6).
Student participation is essential to rigorous field testing and evaluation of integrated curriculum. School administration and counseling staff will help to identify prospective students. We sought and received written permission from parents for their child's participation in the project. We advocate paying students stipends for their participation: students are required to complete a daily survey and extensive journal to support field testing the curricular unit and evaluating student learning and satisfaction. (See Student Guide, Appendix B-3.)
We suggest a sample of students that reflects the diversity of the local high school population--for example, multiple racial and ethnic groups; English proficiency; gender balanced; and previous participation in the range of available programs such as college preparatory, general, vocational, and special education. Students are presurveyed about their education background and their experiences working on projects, in teams, and with various technologies.
The main body of this guide is organized into three sections corresponding to the major parts of the mini-sabbatical. Each section has two main elements: an introduction and a description of unit activities. In addition to the syllabus, appendices document schedules, protocols, evaluation instruments, and other materials to support implementation.