As a High School Social Studies Curriculum and Instruction Specialist, I am aware that each year I am in this position, it is another year I am not in the classroom. However, a major advantage of this position is the opportunity to develop teacher leaders through curriculum, instruction, and assessment opportunities supported within and beyond our school district. The C3 Framework and IDM is a perfect example of enacting change in social studies teaching and learning with teachers, rather than a top down approach.
To this end, when professional development workshops/programs are offered, it is imperative to have teachers who utilize the strategy as part of the presentation team. This insures a level of credibility essential to a program’s growth and success. Without this team approach, the workshop can be framed as out of touch or heavy handed and in short D.O.A
In terms education guru Michael Fullan would use, this type of approach supports a leadership style that is marked by the following competencies:
- Challenges the Status Quo
- Creates a Commonly Owned Plan for Success
- Focuses on Team over Self
- Commitment to Continuous Improvement to Self and Organization
- Builds External Networks and Partnerships
In addition to these five, Fullan identifies two more competencies in the 2016 publication Key Competencies for Whole-System Change. I believe this approach to leadership will, in the up-coming year, increase the use of the C3 Framework among our 500 plus high school social studies teachers. But, that will be a future blog…
The most recent C3 workshop, that two teachers and I led, occurred this past February. It was our first attempt at this with plans to offer a revised three-hour workshop in June. Below, you will find some shared items from the workshop’s structure and 5 sample slides of the presentation. Ultimately, I hope they can contribute to your discussions and development with the C3 framework, leading to some “A-ha!” moments for the future.
If you would like access to the full presentation, please email me at cjperrier@fcps.edu
Work Shop Structure
We designed our three-hour workshop using the IDM format. We established a Compelling Question, 3 Supporting Questions, identified resources and a variety of instructional practices and formative assessments (see slide 3 below). As part of the overview we also read the Instructional Shifts article available on this website, showed them the C3 website, and framed the in terms our county uses.
Also, as part of our introduction, the three of us included a favorite quote or sentiment about history education. This reveals our educational philosophy and, in turn, stimulated some conversation about theory and classroom experiences. Here are the three quotes we used.
“History is not just facts and events. History is also a pain in the heart and we repeat history until we are able to make another’s pain in the heart our own.”
“HISTORY is a Greek word which means, literally, just INVESTIGATION.”
“You can’t do historical thinking without facts, and you can’t acquire stuff without some sort of historical thinking.”
Lastly, we asked participants to identify personal motivations for attending and desired outcomes for the session. This provided opportunities to personalize the work session.
Perrier Presentation Screenshots and Notes
Craig has been an educator for 17 years in a variety of roles and locations. Presently, he is the High School Social Studies Specialist for Fairfax County Public Schools. Previously he worked for the Department of Defense Schools and the non profit Virtual High School as their K-12 History/Social Studies Coordinator He taught for 12 years in Massachusetts and in American Schools in Brazil. Craig is also an adjunct at Northeastern University, Southern New Hampshire University, and Ashford University, and has consulted in a variety of professional development and curriculum positions. He is actively involved with the World Affairs Council and maintains a blog “The Global, History Educator.” Craig is delighted to be a C3 blogger and looks forward to the frameworks use in schools across the USA and beyond.