Before beginning my practicum I had the opportunity to meet with the superintendent of the school I was doing my practicum at. I went to Central Office located behind the Dhahran Middle School and waited for him until our appointed meeting time. While waiting, I took a gander at the school’s memorabilia as well as the many posters hanging around the building detailing the school’s ideologies. These ideologies help shape the school culture and helped me understand the school.
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Beliefs, Values and Attitudes
Beliefs, Values and Attitudes
The first poster I noticed detailed the school’s mission, vision and values. On it states the school’s purpose of education (See Appendix A). Reading it I could not help but notice that it’s mission statement reflected an essentialist view of education. An essentialist education hopes to impart basic and essential academic knowledge and skills that would help the students thrive in society (SIUE, n.d). What’s unique about this school’s mission statement is that it doesn’t preset a society that they’re currently living in, but a society for the future. Since globalization plays such a heavy role in our current society, it is important that we practice skills that can prepare us for any ramifications. This is evident in the values they hope to pass for future graduates to learn such as citizenship, excellence, safety, accountability (See Appendix B) etc. By practicing these values the school provides great promise for its students and can begin to impart an education that can unlock and achieve their potential.
I think a large part of why the Dhahran Hills School have this belief is due to the nature of their existence. The Dhahran Hills School is a company school for the Saudi Aramco workforce; any worker who works for the company enrols their children into the provided institution. To them, their belief in a better future stems from the company's values. They believe that if others practice these values they can also achieve high levels of performance and effectiveness (Living Our Values, 2020). They understand that with hard work, you can create a better future not only for yourself, but for others as well.
Academic Expectations
Academic Expectations
Another core document I viewed was a detailed set of expectations that reflected the school’s commitment of its students and teachers to enable them to achieve their maximum potential (See Appendix B). For teachers they titled it a Teacher Profile and it had four essential concepts:
Planning and Preparation Instruction
Classroom Environment Professional Responsibilities
Under each concept, there were several objectives underneath that detailed steps the teachers can take in order to strengthen their teaching practices. The way it was written was even similar to how they would write lesson objectives. Some statements began with verbs from Bloom’s Taxonomy. For example, under Planning and Preparation, they had “employ appropriate instructional resources, engage learning support, and accommodate varied learning needs to enhance student learning”. Or, in Classroom Environment they had, “create and maintain a respectful, positive, student-centred, and intellectually challenging learning environment”. It's amazing that they advertise this and make it visible because it can help teachers to better understand their roles in the school, so they can provide for a better education.
In addition to this they also displayed the school’s attitude towards learning in the form of Learning Principles (See Appendix C). There are six principles in total and they include:
Literacy is the heart of learning
Learning is an active, social act
Learning about learning establishes a habit of inquiry.
A key goal of learning is fluent and flexible transfer
Assessing progress is part of learning
Learning results from the thoughtful planning of instruction.
These principles illuminate the school’s academic expectations of learning in a simple and concise manner, but you can’t help but feel they are of great importance. Reading the principles I felt awed because they didn’t make it seem as if learning was just a means to an end. Their focus wasn’t on what students achieve, but how they achieve it. It's just as the ancient Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu, says, "Give a man a fish; feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish; feed him for a lifetime" (Haworth, 2007). The Learning Principles also implicitly state the type of teaching stratgies the school practices. Statements such as 'learning [being] an active, social act' or '[establishing] a habit of inquiry' are reflective of teaching strategies the children will experience such as inquiry-based learning or even constructivism.
Both the Teacher Profile and the Learning Principles reflect the school's attitude towards learning. Understanding a school's attitude can determine whether you want to learn in the school or not because it helps to highlight the various activities students can expect to experience while learning.
Student Expectations
Student Expectations
Another core document I spotted in Central Office was the Graduate Profile (See Appendix D). Similar to the Teacher Profile, the Graduate profile lists a set of expectations the school wishes the student would have after they complete their education at the Dhahran Hill School. The school categorizes the Graduate Profile into four different aspects and they are:
Knowledge and Skills for the 21st Century
Complex and Creative Thinker and Inquirer
Interpersonal Skills and Collaboration
Personal Qualities, Work Habits and Attitudes
For each category, similar to the Teacher Profile, they delve deeper into what it means to exhibit these four different attributes and its implications. For example, evidence of having Knowledge and Skills for the 21st Century is, “skillfully and ethically use media and technology for personal development and academic growth”. Or, in Personal Qualities, Work Habits and Attitudes they had, “approach all situations with integrity, politeness, sensitivity, and tolerance”. I think it’s great that the school is able to generate a graduate profile. This enables students to see the end product of not just themselves, but their learning and aspire themselves encompass these attributes. The graduate profile can also help students see the purpose behind learning. It's important to have a sense of purpose in learning because without it students lack a strong reason to learn, take on challenges or even behave well (Elias, 2018).
School Rules
School Rules
School rules tackle a broader range of issues regarding what is considered appropriate and right on school grounds. School rules govern the behaviour of the entire institution, which is different than classroom rules which govern just a small part of itself (Thornberg, 2008). In fact, classroom rules are merely a detailed extension of school rules. One of the main functions of school rules is to regulate acceptable behaviour as well as ensuring that the school is a safe space not only for students but for teachers and administrative staff. Before beginning my placement I had to meet the superintendent, principal, vice-principal and my mentor. In all my meetings with them, they stressed to me the importance of safety. They understood that the purpose of my placement was to learn to become a teacher and they were in favor of it. One thing they told me I had to keep in mind was safeguarding both the students' and the school's privacy.
As administrators, it is their job to ensure that the school is a safe place for its inhabitants. They were completely right to inform me of this. As a temporary teacher at the school, I have the responsibility to safeguard the students' privacy. I should not be talking about certain students in detail with others because, in doing so, it may inadvertently get back to parents and can set off a negative chain of events. According to Maslow, students need to pass multiple tiers of need in order to self-actualize; this is where learning is most effective as this stage is when one is able to accept and express their potential (Bishop, 2016). If students cannot satisfy their need of safety, then they are not able to self-actualize. I also need to be wary of how I conduct myself. I need to display a professional manner at all times, because now that I am associated with the school I have the responsibility to carry the school's dignity. Relational rules is one of the most important thing when it comes to school, therefore you should always take extreme caution in guarding it (Thornberg, 2009).
Resources
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D
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