UMaine education seminars advocate team collaboration

ORONO ? Teachers in Maine’s middle schools may feel overwhelmed, whether by requirements for more frequent testing and assessment of student skills, more rigorous requirements for ongoing professional development, or the continuing challenge of teaching young adolescents who are undergoing major social, emotional and intellectual changes.

Those teachers may be relieved to learn that they don’t need to deal with those pressures alone.

Organizers of the 22nd annual Middle Level Education Institute, set for June 25-29 at the University of Maine, say creating a fully functioning team of educators is the first step toward making major advances in learning in their middle school. The institute offers real-world help to teams in formulating plans, accessing appropriate resources and anticipating and dealing with obstacles to improved learning.

“As middle-schoolers in Maine and across the country, young adolescents are developing values, attitudes and ways of dealing with life that will basically set the pattern for their behavior as adults,” said professor Edward Brazee of UM’s College of Education and Human Development. “These young people deserve the best that we as instructors have to offer to help them prepare for life in an increasingly complex world.”

That preparation occurs effectively in schools which recognize that the developmental needs of 10- to 15-year-olds include ? but are not limited to ? their academic advancement. Such schools feature a climate that encourages an inter-disciplinary approach to curriculum, recognizing that problems in real life often require complex solutions.

At the institute, which runs June 25-29 at UM, middle school teachers can find experts, resources and proven techniques that foster improved learning environments. The format will allow substantial time for working in teams to meet the needs those teams identity. Expert consultants will work with the teams toward desired objectives, and individual teams will be partnered with other teams for periods of time.

Another focus will be on technology, with all possible materials available on the institute’s Web site.

“We can energize teachers with new ways to think about things,” said Gert Nesin, clinical instructor in education and an organizer of the institute. She urges participants to visualize a school that promotes compassion, a workable set of values and skills including cooperation, decision-making and goal setting.

Recognizing that different students learn in different ways and encouraging varied approaches to instruction can boost students’ thirst for knowledge and teachers’ passion for helping them to learn, Nesin said. An ongoing challenge is to develop a curriculum that meets state and national standards while keeping students and teachers engaged.

Nesin said that student involvement was critical for overall improvement in school climate. Such involvement may trigger unscheduled “teachable moments,” which some teachers avoid, feeling they need to “stay on task” to meet mandated objectives.

Nesin reasons that allowing the natural curiosity of students to direct parts of a lesson kicks learning up a notch: “If you’re including the students, they’re bringing up these ‘teachable moments’ because they’re part of the process.”