Taking Care of the Teachers Who Take Care of the Students: The Teacher Expertise Model from Harvard University's CSML Program

Presenters

Aaron L. PolanskyFollow

First Presenter's Institution

Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School

First Presenter's Brief Biography

Aaron Polansky has served as Superintendent-Director of Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School since 2016. Aaron has authored three Children's Books that are used as teaching tools nationwide and has been featured on news channels such as ABC, CBS, CNN, and Fox News. He has presented as a keynote speaker at conferences Nationwide.

Second Presenter's Institution

Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School

Second Presenter’s Email Address

camaral@oldcolony.info

Second Presenter's Brief Biography

Growing up in an immigrant family, the importance of education was always at the forefront of Carmen Amaral's consciousness and ultimately led her to make a departure from pharmaceutical R&D and begin her career as an educator. Ms. Amaral holds an EdS in Educational Leadership from Bridgewater State University, an MAT in Biology Education from the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, a Bachelor’s in Biology and Chemistry from Bridgewater State College and was named a Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms fellow. Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms equips educators from the United States to bring an international perspective to their schools through targeted training, experience abroad, and global collaboration. Prior to joining the Old Colony community, Carmen served as the Science Department Chair for the Southeastern Regional School District and as a teacher with the Cape Cod Collaborative for a decade prior to joining Southeastern. Carmen was the recipient of the Leonard T. Jelly Excellence in Chemistry Award and received published recognition in The Nucleus, American Chemical Society Newsletter. Carmen has presented at conferences both local and national and brings a noted focus on authentic leadership and facilitation to her role as Academic Coordinator. In addition to her work as an educator, she serves on the advisory council for the Bartlett College of Science & Mathematics at Bridgewater State University. Carmen also engages in advocacy work and serves as Vice President of the Board at the Women’s Fund SouthCoast. She is an avid traveler, fitness enthusiast, and self-taught baker and cook. When she is not serving her students and community, she can be found at the gym, traveling to experience and learn different cultures, or trying out a new recipe. Please help us in welcoming Ms. Amaral to our Old Colony community.

Third Presenter's Institution

Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School

Third Presenter’s Email Address

ktaveira@oldcolony.info

Third Presenter's Brief Biography

Kelly serves as a Special Education Teacher and co-leader of the New Teacher Mentor Program at Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School.

Fourth Presenter's Institution

Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School

Fourth Presenter’s Email Address

bjupin@oldcolony.info

Fourth Presenter's Brief Biography

Beth Jupin has served as a teacher of Mathematics and co-leader of the New Teacher Mentor Program at Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School.

Document Type

Event

Primary Strand

Mindfulness and Wellbeing

Relevance to Primary Strand

In 2021-2022, Old Colony introduced the Teacher Expertise Model to inspire our teachers, their learning, and their practice as we made our way out of the pandemic era.

Alignment with School Improvement Plan Topics

Leadership/ Continuous Improvement

Brief Program Description

During the 2021-2022 school year, a group of 11 staff members piloted the Teacher Expertise Model to expand their learning, networks, and professional expertise. Since that time, our outreach has expanded and other schools have jumped on board. Learn more about the initiative and how to bring the model to your school in an effort to open doors, minds, and keys to collaboration, networking, and personal and professional growth across academic and vocational focus areas.

Summary

The Teacher Expertise Model that we will share with attendees was a product of our learning in the CSML (Certificate of School Management and Leadership) Program offered through the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The program has become a staple of our work and has resulted in opportunities for our intructional staff to move beyond our walls in search of learning and an expanded network of professional colleagues.

Evidence

Peer modeling is hypothesized to depend in part on perceived similarity between model and observer. Similarity serves as an important source of information for gauging behavioral appropriateness, formulating outcome expectations, and assessing one's efficacy for learning or performing tasks.

The teachers involved in the Old Colony TEM were given complete freedom to select peer models who they would observe as part of a reflective learning exercise to improve their own teaching practice. This opportunity resulted in an inspired and self-directed process where instructors would seek out, study, implement and share best practices to improve upon their professional practice.

Learning Objective 1

understand the power of utilizing peer models to increase knowledge of best practice.

Learning Objective 2

understand the power of trust between administrators and instructors and how this impacts the desire to maintain high performance levels.

Learning Objective 3

utilize a protocol for implementation within their own respective district.

Recommended Citation

Polansky, Aaron L., "Taking Care of the Teachers Who Take Care of the Students: The Teacher Expertise Model from Harvard University's CSML Program" (2023). Southeast Conference on School Climate. 37.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/secsc/2023/2023/37