Research-Based? Data Driven? How do we measure TRUST?

Sooooo...I was just at a Retreat with my team, when one of my colleagues had the guts to question THE buzz words: Research-Based, Data-Driven pedagogy.

My first reaction--what in the world? I mean, of course, we have to implement research-based methodologies, data-driven from results of numerous formative assessments, our summative assessments, our MCA's, OLPA, SAT's...etc. etc. etc. to dynamically inform our pedagogy and drive student test scores higher.

True.

And yet.

How do we measure TRUST? Caring? Empathy (not sympathy or pity)? Relationship-building? Intuition? Sensitivity?

Which protocol should we use? What is the one universal password that can help you to connect with 166 students, simultaneously? After all, if our work is research-based and data-driven, we just need to plug in the necessary formula per classroom into a teacher-like robot, or a computer, step back and drink our latte--right??

Maybe, perhaps, and I know that I may be going a little radical here so please be patient with me...maybe it takes more than research-based, literacy-based methodologies, and statistics to be an effective teacher that relates to and inspires students to achieve at levels they didn't necessarily know they were capable of.

Because they are still children, and how do they know what they can achieve?

As adults--mature, educated adults can I ask you? Do you always know what you can achieve? What you are capable of? Would you love to have a mentor who "gets" you, and helps you to achieve more?

Maybe, our children need more from us.

Maybe.

Maybe our babies need us to be vulnerable and open our hearts, so that they can be vulnerable and open theirs.

Open our minds to ask, strive to understand them, get uncomfortable when we don't "get" something, so that we understand them, and can help them to feel safe enough to do the same.

Maybe.

Maybe our students need us to care so much that we push ourselves even harder and more than we push our children--and yes, we need to push our children to achieve excellence. Daily. Learning is not a passive activity.

Excellence. To explain clearly what that looks like, sounds like, feels like. What it takes to achieve excellence. To utilize the research to be effective in the science of our instruction, to take both qualitative and quantitative data to figure out what part of our instruction was effective, what part do we need to work on.

After we reach out to our children. After we show them how much we care. After we first learn as much as we can about our children, try to understand them-to "get" them, to be there for them.

THEN they will trust us. Trust us to understand, to know what they need. Trust us that if we see something great in them, it must be there, even if they don't see it yet.

Even if.

When we show them that we believe in them, why we have opened up a world for them. Because then they are open to being uncomfortable, and admitting they need to learn more, and that they need help and support from us, knowing that we will be there to support them.

That we will be there to support them. Always, and in all ways.

And yes, then we should implement the research-based, data-driven methodologies. After. We. Show. Them. How. Much. We. Care.

Try it.

Especially since Research says it works.