Flashlight and a Compass:
A Collection of Tools to Promote Instructional Coherence
Authors: Chris Ferguson, Stephen Marble, Glenda Copeland, Sandra Finley, Karen Alderete
Product ID: T&L-07 Price: $120
• Published: 2000 • Format: multimedia
Teachers are bombarded with a growing list of "must do's" that add to their responsibilities, including curricular directives, instructional mandates, safety procedures, and accountability policies. The ever-increasing array of daily compliance and reporting tasks often leaves teachers no time to think deeply about their students and their practice. Unfortunately, the impact on students can be catastrophic. The student's educational experience becomes a hodgepodge of differing policies, styles, and requirements, even within the same school.
SEDL developed a collection of activities, tools, and resources called A Flashlight and a Compass that is designed to assist educators in reflecting about their work, meeting with other educators to share ideas and strategies, and thinking carefully about what their students know and need. A Flashlight and a Compass contains sections on coherence, learning, dialogue, reflection, and improved student learning. The collection's resources include:
- The papers "Restoring Meaning to Teaching," "The Changing Role of the Teacher," and "Understanding Teachers' Perspectives on Teaching and Learning"
- The videos "Restoring Meaning to Teaching," "Promoting Teacher Inquiry: A Study Group Approach," and "A Private Universe"
- The books The Courage to Teach and Teachers Who Learn, Kids Who Achieve
- A professional development toolkit based on award-winning school and district models
- A campus administrator's brief on instructional coherence