2008 National Writing Project Annual Meeting Notes – San
Antonio, Texas
Submitted by Mardell Kiesel
The following notes reflect what I heard…and my related thoughts
(in italics) from an NWP workshop entitled:
Organizational Change in Project Outreach – November
20, 2008
I was particularly interested in what other WP Site directors and boards were doing to initiate reorganization with respective Site needs. I found the work of the Hudson Valley, Kansas, and Montana WPs to be relevant and applicable to the ASWC and Satellites. Project Outreach initiatives require self-study in the following areas: access, relevance and diversity.
An NWP staff member directed self-study activities during the first year of reorganization at each of the sites.
Questions that should be asked for meaningful inquiry to occur:
• What are we?
• Who is involved, who isn’t?
• Are we (ASWC) set up to be found?
• Why should they (potential participants) care?
• Who do we (ASWC) want to reach and why?
Inquiry requires action! Keep asking questions and do something (action) at the same time! So, inquiry, action and dissemination...are critical factors for the process and for the outcomes. Each of the sites looked at WPs that were thriving…among the traits of the “successful” was the fact that they were different than what they were three years before. (New people were added to the TC levels and new opportunities were identified that were relative to the needs of the respective clientele.)
Each of the WP Site leadership read: Institutional Critique: A Rhetorical Methodology for Change (article…find and cite source.)
Hudson Valley: Inquiry (Site started in 2001- New Falls, NY - eighty miles north of New York City. Leadership identified eighty active TCs so they had a base to offer PD. The next questions they asked were… “So, how do we make the connection between what we know and …how to bring that knowledge into the schools? How do we stop talking to “ourselves?” The first action step was to articulate WP Site identity.
Every HV Project Site meeting started with a writing prompt. (If we are about writing…we have to write! Expand TCs bases in Alaska…then, identify what they are prepared to offer, and prepare a menu of PD choices. Be open to customizing choices and working with requests for training. Provide training and support for TCs - inquiry strategies, process strategies, and application-to-teaching strategies. Offer a trainer and cover part of the cost for a district…how about a Trainer with Ticket?
Communications are critical and all networking angles must be considered. We currently offer an Open, a pre-Open process course, and a 21st Century Tools and Writing course. Statewide, personal contact with the district or school professional development director must occur with a menu of training choices. Offer various packages for support: In-service, credit course, on-going site support and follow-up checks with face-to-face or online communications. Offer a budget for each option.
Offer an Advanced Institute for TCs…consider opportunities for self-reflection, …what do TCs need to re-kindle? Provide presentation techniques, explore depths of knowledge, and offer something for “free”…no-strings-attached-training. Offer “shadow teacher” opportunities, adult-learner techniques, provide a “trainer’s 101 handbook,” develop a few “demo” lessons for the trainers, identify a few key professional resources, TCs tap a “shadow teacher,” etc.
Kansas: Leadership
After inquiry…the application has to happen, be monitored, changed
as necessary and advanced. How does one change an institution?
Summer Institute Leadership Team (Rhetorical actions…)
• Mission statement helps to identify the purpose of the work.
• Start small, do it well.
(Rhetorical actions are things like the mission statement, organizational structures, short term and longer-term goals, etc.)
Ask, “Who is missing from our site?” Our Site (ASWC) needs greater representation (K-post high school), gender balance, TCs that reflect the student clientele, administration, cross-content areas teachers, economic diversity...
Ask, “What is missing?” Writing notebooks, journals, tools of writing…identify the cultural literacy that is valued in specific communities. How do you build cultural capital? The specific training offerings must include literacy samples that matter to the community for whom it is delivered!
Montana: Actions (Site began in 1978) Challenges for the WP Site included the size of the state...twelve hours to drive across the state and eight hours to drive from top to bottom. J The director came to the job with the challenge of helping Native American teachers to succeed. They were not passing the Praxis exam for certification. The writing section was one of the areas of trouble. How does an organization reach out and touch Native (indigenous) leadership in meaningful ways? Through inquiry, they determined the University to be a very hostile place to the Native population.
Factors to consider: 1972…Indian Education For All
Since 2005, there have been dollars to implement IEA for all teachers. Culturally
relevant materials are very important…Success For All (example)
did not all allow for relevant curriculum. (A factor (cultural relevance)
to consider for ASWC and Satellites…)
All teachers are mandated to include Indian Education in their curriculum. Project Outreach recognized that most of the rural area teachers were ones who did not know anything about the Native culture or how to work what did know into their teaching day. They were also afraid to offer what they did know because they knew someone would criticize their approach or the knowledge they shared. Identify Native TCs for training and support.
In Montana, the Crow and the Blackfeet are still warring. The Blackfoot TC was not any more credible than a non-Native leader.
ASWC shares the challenges of supporting Alaska Native teachers. How can ASWC attract AK Native teachers and how can we collaborate to help the organization know what is relevant? Promote an AK Native teacher as a key leader of potential TCs. Plan an Open or an Invitational for the Bethel region. I highly recommend ASWC Board member, Sam Crow as the lead TC. He would “tap” shadow teachers who reflect the cultures of their respective students. Support Sam and other TCs with training and relevant resources.
Writing Project events may include extended family. Trainings must engage all the members and the ages of the community. Check out the Montana WP web site.
Questions for possible consideration:
• What does a Writing Marathon look like in diverse communities?
• How can the elders of a community lend their voices to identify
the desired cultural literacy for their grandchildren?
• What are the torches to be passed?
• What does “legacy” mean to a community and why is
it important?
Charges for ASWC and Satellites…
Explore the potential for relevance within various communities across
the state. Where do we start? How many centers for change
can we sustain over time? Create a timeline for systemic
change for the organization as a whole and for the centers for change.
We have work to do! Please email or call if you are interested in sharing your thoughts about any of the above musings.