By Nelson Coulter
The business of school is LEARNING!
Guthrie CSD opened for business on August 27, 2012. After a summer filled with painting, waxing,
fixing, professional development, camps, leagues, and vacations, students and
staff of the Guthrie School re-assembled to take care of business for the 2012-13 school year.
In the two weeks prior to the
start of school the Guthrie CSD faculty and staff engaged in deliberate and
intentional adult learning toward that very end of staying focused on our
primary mission – LEARNING.
This is the first of a five
part series of articles that will provide some clarity about the Guthrie
Graduate Profile that has emerged from community- and school-based conversations
that have been ongoing in Guthrie for the last year. Below are the five pillars (dimensions) of
the Guthrie
Graduate Profile:
v Learners/Problem Solvers/Critical Thinkers
v Effective Communicators
v Persons of Strong Character
v Productive and Valuable Team Members
v Compassionate and Responsible Citizens
For Part 1 of this series we
will focus on the Graduate Profile dimension of:
Learners/Problem
Solvers/Critical Thinkers
In this dimension we have
articulated specific knowledge and skills to which we aspire for Guthrie
students. Those elements prescribe that
Guthrie students:
• (will be) creative
and entrepreneurial in crafting innovative solutions
• (will have the skills to) investigate, analyze, organize information and discern truth
• (will be) open-minded,
curious, and risk-taking
• (will be) academically
capable
• (will be) effective,
self-directed, and adaptable
The Learners/Problem
Solvers/Critical Thinkers dimension
is the one most easily connectable to the academic components of the Texas
Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) of the Pre-K through Grade 12 subjects
and curricula. However, as can been seen
in the specific elements of this dimension, there are numerous indicators that
go well beyond what is prescribed by Texas for the academic learning of students. Words and phrases such as “entrepreneurial,”
“Innovative,” “discern truth,” “risk-taking,” and “adaptable” suggest that the
learning tasks created for Guthrie students will go well beyond the sit-and-git
, “canned,” or work-sheet-driven curricula that has become such a staple in the
public schools of Texas.
Clearly,
the work of the professional educators in Guthrie now takes on a new and very
engaging status. The learning of the
professionals should (must) be the precursor of the learning of our students. Crafting engaging, meaningful, and relevant
learning tasks that not only address the academic standards but also align with
the dimensions of the Graduate Profile is work neither for minimalists nor the
faint of heart. In fact, engaging in
professional work of this nature requires us to play at the very top of our
intelligence and professional skills. However,
what interesting and energizing work it is!
And, what work could be more important?
At Guthrie CSD we have
determined to make the Graduate Profile a reality (not a document, not a dream,
not a slogan) for students by engaging very deliberately and intentionally in a
day-to-day process of LEARNING toward that end. There may have been a time when students in
small and isolated communities like Guthrie would have been at a learning
disadvantage to other students on the planet.
Because of 21st century tools and connectivity that
disadvantage has now evaporated. There
is now no reason for our students NOT to receive a WORLD CLASS education.
Our intention at Guthrie CSD
is to graduate our students fully armed and prepared to compete in the world
marketplace of work and school and life in a way that will make them the “crème
of the crop” in any setting in which they choose to live and work.
In effect, at Guthrie we have
chosen MORE for our students (not
less). Why wouldn’t we?
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