Pedagogy > Products

We can’t purchase order our way out of a pedagogy problem... Over the last few years, I’ve sat in several educational sales pitch meetings. Most of them have a great product, with great intentions. Companies  have created a platform or resource that will enhance student learning and decrease teacher workload in an attempt to respond to the times we are experiencing, whether that's the science of reading, the increase in multilingual students that we are having or the digital and AI age. But a product can not replace pedagogy. When I say pedagogy I am referring to knowledge and skills that an educator has to have to instruct students; it is the art and science of teaching. You can’t buy a product that is going to teach that. Rather it is a result of collaboration flowing from  leaders and administrators who don’t just manage people but develop people. There is a difference between those two things! Developing people requires emotional intelligence like grit, empathy, conflict resolution and a growth mindset. We are in a postpandemic era in which people are seeking work-life balance or satisfaction. Not to mention a new generation who will protect their mental health and work-life balance at all cost, kudos to them! These factors all make both print and digital products that promise to save teachers planning time and energy very appealing. Yet and still, we can not discount the power of investing in people, in teachers, in building their pedagogy. Building the instructional expertise of a human teacher in the classroom will always yield more fruit then giving a teacher or student another product or platform. This is also why I believe so strongly in hands-on professional learning that builds capacity and provides opportunities to implement skills with students in real time. We have got to build and invest in human capital including uncertified teachers or alternatively certified teachers. Wherever the need is, we have got to invest in ensuring that teachers have the knowledge and skills to do what we are asking them to do. Which means we have to provide teachers time and space to focus on the right work; to go a mile deep and inch wide by focusing on the essentials. I have seen the idea floating around that we can’t intervene our way out of a tier one problem. That idea has resonated with me deeply and I am now applying it to teacher training and professional learning.

We can not purchase order our way out of a pedagogy problem. Instead, we must invest in teachers and educators through thoughtful professional learning and coaching that builds capacity and grows students in real time.