Rev. Fr. Antoine J. Ghazal, Ed.D.© Copyright 2014 PC = f(HC, SC, DC) Rev. Fr. Antoine J. Ghazal, Ed.D.© Copyright 2014

Professional Capital Hargreaves and Fullan (2012) An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest. ~Benjamin Franklin

Transforming Teaching in Every School Insights, ideas, and actions that will improve teachers’ effectiveness, which in turn will improve societies and generations to come. Collective transformation is achieved by all teachers and all leaders through a strategy that harnesses the commitments and capabilities of the many: the power of PROFESSIONAL CAPITAL (PC). Teachers must be treated with dignity as people who have lives and careers, not just as performers who must produce results.

Break down the walls of classroom isolation and convert teaching into a more collaborative and collegial profession. This will improve student learning and achievement. Teaching is at a crossroads at the top of the world. Of all the factors, the most important is the teacher. High-quality teachers are at the forefront of change. Three wrong roads: assault on teachers’ pensions and security, monetary road (pay according to individual performance and test scores), and making teaching simpler.

Teaching like a pro is a personal commitment to rigorous training, continuous learning, collegial feedback, respect for evidence, responsiveness to parents, striving for excellence, and going far beyond the requirement of any written contract. Teaching like a pro cannot be sustained unless ALL your colleagues teach like pros too. Teaching like a pro is a collective and transparent responsibility, not a pervasive groupthink or contrived collegiality.

We must change the game and explore how to reconstruct, reculture, and make our profession better. This is founded on a new concept: PROFESSIONAL CAPITAL or the systematic development of three types of capital--human, social, and decisional. Professional capital pushes the limit of what teachers will be able to achieve for every child. You can only get great by having an outstanding teaching profession. It must necessarily begin with you!

A Capital Idea Capital: adj. Relating to or being assets that add to long-term net worth of a corporation. noun. Accumulated goods devoted to the production of other goods. Two kinds of capital: Business Capital (hunting for talented individuals, working them hard, and moving them on when they get restless or spent); Professional Capital (long-term investment in developing human capital). A big part or PC investment is in high-quality teachers and teaching. It requires teachers to be highly committed, thoroughly prepared, continuously developed, properly paid, well networked, and able to make effective judgments.

PC is made of three capitals: human (talent), social (interactions focused on student learning), and decisional (making decisions in complex situations). How to develop high human capital and high social capital? By concentrating efforts on increasing individual talent. Professionals exercise their judgments with responsibility, openness, and transparency. They are not afraid of making mistakes, they take pride in their work, they know what they are doing, and they strive to outdo themselves and each other. PC is a personal thing, a within-school thing, and a whole-system thing.

When we exemplify the power of PC , we become smart and talented, committed and collegial, thoughtful and wise. We will have a moral purpose of serving our students and our community. We need teachers to be the best and to be drawn from the best, and we have to establish cultures for them to work in teams. You can’t make progress unless you start the journey. Be determined that it can be done, by all of you together, and you will not be defeated in your quest.

Social media can enhance social capital, but the source of inspiration is about people and their values rather than technological innovation. Power with teachers, not power over them, is the source of change. A small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. The group is the key to change. When groups feel mistreated, they can become dysfunctional and unproductive.

Views of Teaching Teaching is a glorious profession, but it has been declining in the US over the past 30 years. The obsession with test scores, gadgetry, and achievement data has superseded the passion for learning and teaching. Finland focuses on creating a culture that supports a teaching profession where everyone is capable instead of removing bad teachers. in Singapore, you are rewarded more for your consistent practical excellence than for test score performance, seniority, or administrative responsibility. We have to understand teaching and teachers more fully and more fairly. Good learning comes from good teaching!!

The business capital view assumes that teaching is simple, requires moderate ability, comes down to enthusiasm, hard work, talent, and measurable results. The professional capital view assumes that teaching is sophisticated, requires high levels of education, is perfected through continuous improvement, involves wise judgment and experience, and is a collective accomplishment and responsibility. In the US, the focus is misplaced on individual teacher quality. Competitors believe that you need to maximize the cumulative effect of many, many teachers over time for every student. Students do well because they have a series of very good teachers. They experience high-quality teachers year after year.

You have to transform the entire profession, the whole 100%. Finland, Singapore, South Korea, and Canada draw teachers from the top 30% while the US and the UK at best recruit from the bottom 40% of the university graduating class! High-performing countries invest in better working conditions on the job: a clear and shared sense of purpose and direction, opportunity to work with good colleagues, professional development, leadership roles, access to technology and good data, and so on. In short, initial attraction to the profession and continuous learning on the job with others.

Teachers are praised and prized for what they do Teachers are praised and prized for what they do. They are seen as the builders of their nations. In Singapore, salaries of teachers compare with those of engineers. In Finland, teaching is one of the two preferred for a future spouse. It has the narrowest achievement gap in the world. In Canada, schools are well-resourced and staffed knowledgeable, competent, and highly qualified teachers.

Flaws in the US strategy: reward the top and get tough on the bottom; merit pay based on student test scores; culture of fear, intimidation and retaliation; heavily relying on individual performance instead of focusing on inspiring students and being seen in classrooms. Change the culture and develop PC, and a good evaluation system flourishes just like in any line of work (restaurant, salon, airline, and so on). Expect quality and consistency! Office staff, classroom doors, students… What’s worth fighting for is to change every classroom and every school for the better. The teacher is the key. All of the teachers should be on the move. It’s a school thing, a professional thing, a a system thing.

Teaching like a pro means continuously inquiring into an improving one’s own teaching. All teachers need to become not just good, but excellent at teaching (INDIVIDUAL). Teaching like a pro means planning and improving teaching as part of a high-performing team. It’s about powerful collective responsibility (TEAM). Teaching like a pro means being part of the wider profession and contributing to its development. Teachers need to rethink how they work with, support, and challenge their colleagues (WHOLE PROFESSION).