William H Calhoun: Teaching is . . .

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Introduction ►

SAIL - A Framework for Understanding, Studying, and Assessing Teaching

There is such a thing as teaching. Teaching is not training, though training can be a part of teaching. Teaching is not coaching, though it can include coaching. Teaching is not supervising, it is not facilitation, not managing learning resources, not providing services, not delivering curriculum, not simply the inverse of learning. It is its own activity, its own expertise, an expertise that happens to have student learning as an end goal.

Using a sociological process, a teacher directs a student's attention to instructional activities designed to help the student learn.

Or to put it more comprehensively:

Teaching is a kind of performance in which . . . the attention of the student is exploited . . . in order to induce an experience . . . that will change the way the student thinks.

The important part of this framework is the causal chain, hence SAIL:

Stagecraft directs Attention to Instruction for Learning.

All the listed items ultimately serve the purpose of student learning and achievement, but have different sub-goals. For instance, proper use of the voice can gather and direct a student's attention. The point of gathering the student's attention is to bring focus to a particular instructional tool. The instructional tool is designed to improve or assess the student's ability.

This particular use of the voice might be thought of as part of classroom management, something that must be done so the student and teacher can get down to the real task of teaching and learning. But in this framework, using the voice this way is an integral part of the entire endeavor, located in a coherent causal chain. Using the voice effectively is always a part of teaching, and teachers should be taught this, not as a part of classroom management, but as a part of teaching itself.

This is why teaching isn't simply the inverse of learning, as many seem to assume. A theory of teaching is not the same as a theory of learning, though there's an obvious relationship. The young student learns; this is a process largely under the student's unconscious control. The teacher sets up the environment that allows the student to learn effectively. The student cannot see what the teacher is really doing in this regard, that is why the student needs a teacher. Ultimately, the student should become able to teach himself by learning, consciously and deliberately, from others.

• • •

This framework requires, but also invites, evidence from research. I have tried to refer to activities that can be measured in some way, and the SAIL causal chain itself should also be receptive to investigation. The kind of research that has enriched our understanding of learning and effective instruction touches on only half of what teaching involves. Part of my goal in creating this framework is to open up research possibilities in areas that have not yet been explored, and invite evidence from other fields that have not yet been applied to teaching. Future research should also benefit from the causal rationale for different teaching activities as outlined in this framework.

I very much hope this framework can help improve teacher assessment by providing an easily articulated yet comprehensive description of what teaching is. The assessment of teachers is so poorly done as to be humiliating and maddening. Current attempts to base assessment primarily on student achievement test scores miss the mark almost completely. Until there is a coherent understanding and communication of what teaching is, teacher assessment will be the sorry and haphazard affair it has been for decades.

What is Missing From This Picture? ►

Classroom Management:

Because classroom management is fully integrated into the SAIL framework, it is not explicitly mentioned. Elements of classroom management can be found across the entire framework, but mostly in Stagecraft and Attention & Focus.

Instruction that is engaging, interesting, relevant, clear, and useful also plays a role in classroom management.

Inspiration and motivation of the student:

Does the student not inspire and motivate himself? What does the teacher really contribute? One leads by example, establishes trust (partly by easing the fear of failure), presents to students interesting or desired topics or skills, and provides instruction and assessment that doesn't punish. All these activities can be located in different parts of the framework.

Curriculum:

In one sense, curriculum doesn't matter - one can teach anything by the same principles.

But under Instruction one might have something to say about a coherent and orderly presentation of material whose themes would be self-reinforcing within a single course, across a disciplinary field, and across the school years. Older students who already have some conceptual ability might understand and benefit from this coherence.

A given curriculum can serve an aesthetic or public-relations purpose for a school, or provide interest for the teacher, thus improving Instruction or even Stagecraft.

Because it is easier to design a curriculum than to actually teach it, a lot of attention is paid to curriculum development, but not so much to curriculum implementation. Curriculum is the basis for state educational standards that identify the minimum topics, themes, concepts, and skills that teachers should teach. Sometimes these standards amount to a shopping list, with little guidance on how, or even in what order, they should be taught. But if a particular instructional approach is adopted as part of a curriculum, it would be located in this framework under Instruction.

Planning, preparation, training, professional development:

Unlike in Danielson's framework, for instance, or other schemes which are specifically about teacher professionalism, these would not go into this particular framework. The assumption here is that all parts of the framework are supported by training, planning, and practice, just as it would be with, say, a professional musician or actor.

Standard educational jargon:

I have tried to steer away from a lot of the jargon. I find that the meaning of some jargon has a tendency to drift, thus deceiving us into thinking that we are talking about the same thing. A lot of jargon has its original theoretical propositions built in, making adaptation difficult. I have tried to keep the language as teacher-centric as I can: What is the teacher actually doing and experiencing?

Why Stagecraft? ►

Teaching in a classroom is a kind of performance. All teachers know this, but some are uncomfortable with the word "performance." For me to invoke stagecraft as a pillar of my framework thus requires some explaining.

The anxiety around the word "performance" stems from a misunderstanding; performance means entertainment, and entertaining is the opposite of boring. Students hate boredom and like entertainment, so if you're not entertaining enough as a teacher, the students will hate you. But if you are nothing but entertaining, you are not doing your job. So . . . you can't win.

First, performance does not mean entertainment. Nor does it mean "sage on the stage." Performance means taking physical charge of a roomful of people in a way that is planned, practiced, aware, and proactive. This is sometimes referred to as "running the room." To perform well is to do it gracefully, with poise and presence, humor and seriousness, using both training and improvisation. The performer is acutely aware of the audience, and knows how to read and work with the audience's emotional energy.

Second, all teachers perform in the classroom - it's just a matter of whether the performance is deliberate or haphazard, the teacher conscious or unconscious. Wouldn't you prefer to understand and develop the physical and emotional impact you have on your class, and put that impact to work in your teaching?

Read this statement from Sara Toby Moore, a professional clown and performer. As you read, substitute the word "teacher" for "clown" as I have done below. Then ponder your own level of teacherly stagecraft.

The ~~clown~~ teacher knows no limits, recognizes no rules or boundaries. Not because the ~~clown~~ teacher is rebellious or anarchic, but because they are infinitely curious about the world. They have a powerful desire to relate on all levels – physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. ~~Clown comedy~~ Teaching is born out of this unbridled curiosity, this desire to play with [and learn] everything. This is not the play of the child but of the adult, who enters into the game with a greater level of experience, awareness, and a deeper range of emotion.

Sara Toby Moore

Two Types ►

Two Types of Teachers

Engaging Teachers and Effective Teachers

It is possible for a teacher to be effective but not particularly engaging. It is also possible for a teacher to be quite engaging but not at all effective. It is not enough for a teacher to be engaging; the teacher must know how to guide a student through appropriate and effective instruction. It is also not enough for a teacher to simply provide effective instruction. This will work for a relatively self-motivated and diligent student who knows how to learn, but a teacher must be able to engage any student.

High school students have a good feeling for this distinction between engaging and effective. Though they are comfortable with or even entertained by an engaging teacher, if they feel that they aren't learning, they will complain. But they will say of an effective teacher that they can really learn from that teacher. They will say this even if they think the teacher is boring, stiff, weird, or a stickler for the rules.

• • •

To be engaging is not the same as being friendly, nice, forgiving, entertaining, or amusing. The point of engaging the student is to harness the student's own attention and ability to focus. This attention can be gathered the way a performer can gather the energy of an audience. When the attention demands release and dissipation, an engaging teacher senses it and switches gears appropriately. When attention wanes, the teacher senses it and adjusts. When a student is ready, the teacher knows it. If this sounds like classroom management, it is.

But classroom management is often imagined to have orderliness and control as its goal. Orderliness means very different things to different people, and the meaning is strongly culture- and class-dependent. Too much control can actually diminish effectiveness, especially if the teacher's ego is involved. The only proper and measurable goal of classroom management is the harnessing and management of the student's attention in order to have that attention focused on the instruction. To do this effectively, the teacher must consciously develop the instincts of a performer. To have integrity, these instincts must arise sincerely from the teacher's own personality. Training, practice, and the freedom to experiment and improvise are all indispensable to the development of these instincts, what Lebaree refers to as a teacher persona.

The teacher who is both engaging and effective can couple this performance instinct with well-designed instruction. What this looks like in the classroom will differ from teacher to teacher, but it will result in a student who is learning, and learning how to learn.

References

The Danielson Group. Website: https://danielsongroup.org/. Chicago, IL.
Labaree, D. F. (2024). The Ironies of Schooling. Stanford, CA: Labaree/Amazon.