by Lynn Barendsen
In late October, Shelby Clark and I co-taught two sessions of an online course titled Teaching Good Work in the Classroom. Each two-hour course was designed to offer educators an introduction to materials from The Good Project for classroom use. The syllabus included a brief overview of our research, an introduction to a Good Work activity and dilemma, and an overview of the Good Project Resource Center. Participants included classroom teachers and school heads from public and private schools from around the U.S., as well as attendees from Australia, Brazil, Hong Kong, Italy, Morocco, the Netherlands, Panama, Poland, and Singapore.
The Good Work activity introduced during these sessions asked participants to think of someone they consider to be a “Model Good Worker.” In small groups, educators considered the qualities or attributes that might be used to describe the individuals they had in mind, which included co-workers, family members, and paragons they may have never have met.
Here are a few sample responses:
“Finds purpose in their work. Their work enriches rather than exploits.”
“Shares expertise freely with humility.”
“Is curious, asks clarifying questions to understand, not convince.”
“Is reflective and invested.”
“An advocate for others, they stand up for what is right.”
“Treating all people with dignity, being unafraid to speak out against injustices.”
Many of these responses are ones we have heard in previous sessions; for example, educators used words such dedicated, honest, passionate, persistent, and fair. In addition, however, we noted a social justice and advocacy focus present in some of the above comments that is less typical of our previous Good Work sessions. Although just one indication, participants’ comments were, not surprisingly, reflective about both the current political climate and the racial justice movement (internationally as well as within the U.S.).
During this course, educators also had the opportunity to consider an ethical dilemma—one that emerged from one of our research subjects.. This conundrum describes a high school science student who fabricated how she gathered her data because she believed it would give her a better chance at winning a prestigious prize. In small group discussions, participants discussed the dilemma using a “See, Think, Wonder” thinking routine.
In writing about what they “saw” in this dilemma, some participants wrote that they recognized that this student had worked hard, and they empathized with her situation; others saw that she was hiding the truth; a number saw that she asserted that she had strong values. Many explained that they thought the student believed she was justified in her actions, and some explained that they had been in similar situations with their own students. When asked what this dilemma made them “wonder,” educators asked what they might say if they were really in the student’s or her teacher’s shoes. Additionally, some wondered about the consequences of having people in powerful roles who are continuing to deviate away from the rules; yet others wondered about issues of equity and access in education. Although these last two considerations have come up in previous discussions about good work, they are not “typical” and have not come up in previous discussions of this particular dilemma.
This session felt notably different than other Good Project workshops I’ve led. Certainly, we were online rather than in person, but that is the nature of most of our work these days. Educators are experiencing tremendous pressure: within the U.S. and beyond, their work is being viewed under a microscope, and they are constantly asked to adapt and change their plans at a moment’s notice. I, for one, anticipated that participants might be exhausted and negative. Instead, both groups were fully engaged, looking for new ideas, and seemed to enjoy the collegiality of working with like-minded peers—most of whom were unknown to them and may have come distant societies.. As described above, our shared conversation about what is and isn’t “good work” was impacted and deepened by #BLM and the pandemic.
We have also created an asynchronous version of the course, which we have posted in the Good Project Resource Center. Depending on what we hear from educators and researchers, we anticipate creating additional webinars in the future. These might include: introductions to Good Work dilemmas and activities for classroom use with different age groups; an overview of the Good Work lesson plans and suggestions for implementation;, professional development activities for teams of educators or other workers, and more.
Please have a look and let us know about your interests and needs. We welcome your feedback.