The History of the Great Teachers Movement In North Carolina …

The History of the Great
  Teachers Movement
   In North Carolina




             Written by Steve Smith
                 North Carolina
       Great Teachers Retreat Coordinator

  Faculty Member, Richmond Community College
             Hamlet, North Carolina




 Revised September 2003 Edition
"I N     THE BEGINNING , THERE WAS NOTHING .                                 . ."

In 1993, North Carolina community college faculty first experienced a statewide,
professional development seminar that has become known as the North Carolina
Great Teachers Retreat.           Written to document that seminar, this publication will
provide    some    insight   to    this   highly    effective   concept     in    faculty   and     staff
development and its ongoing impact upon the quality of teaching throughout our
state.


As the current statewide Coordinator, I feel a tremendous need to record the
growth of the Great Teachers Movement (GTM) as North Carolina approaches its
11th annual retreat.      The statewide retreat naturally spawns a variety of localized
and single-college seminars that are based upon the concepts and principles of the
GTM. As this expansion begins, I believe it is imperative to understand the people
and circumstances that have enabled the movement to flourish and become an
integral part of this fascinating, grassroots approach to professional development.


The GTM is truly a "grassroots" movement that consists of professional community
college teachers who wish to improve their teaching and who seek to discover the
art of teaching in themselves. There is no head office, telephone, fax, or any one
person in charge. It belongs to no one, but yet to everyone.


In 1993, the first North Carolina Great Teachers Retreat (hereafter referred to as
the NCGTR) was held at Camp Kanuga in Hendersonville, North Carolina. This
retreat was a direct result of Dr. Kathy Matlock (then Dean for Instruction at Blue
Ridge Community College) deciding to have Blue Ridge Community College
sponsor a retreat after hearing David Gottshall (founder of the GTM) present
information about the GTM at a national conference.


Dr.    Matlock    then   designated       Julie    Thompson,     Director    of    the    Blue     Ridge
Community College Career Development Center, to coordinate the event. Retreats
were held in 1993 and 1994 with no retreat held in 1995. However, in 1996 the 3rd
annual retreat was held followed by retreats in 1997 and 1998.                           Julie left her
Coordinator's     position   in    1998    and     the   responsibilities   of    the    retreat   were
forwarded to me.         Julie's enthusiasm and understanding of the retreat process
were essential in continuing the retreat.            If it were not for her efforts, the retreat
would have vanished.         She remains employed at Blue Ridge.                        Camp Kanuga
continues to be the location where each statewide NCGTR is held.
Nearing its 34th birthday as a national phenomenon, the GTM is based entirely
upon oral tradition. While in North Carolina our retreat is called a retreat because
it is a 3-day event, many states, including California and Hawaii run 5-day
s e mi n a r s , t h u s t h e d i s t i n c t i o n b e t w e e n t h e t w o t e r m s .      However, in the 2003
seminars, both states conducted 4-day seminars in order to cut costs.


To fully understand the North Carolina retreat and its relationship to the hundreds
of other seminars and retreats across North America and Japan, I must include
mention of the development of a periodic event known as the National Great
Teachers Leadership Colloquium.                           To date, three such events have occurred in
S i n s i n a w a , W i s c o n s i n , i n 1 9 9 8 , We s t , T e x a s i n 2 0 0 1 a n d i n t h e Kananaskis Region
(near Banff), Alberta, Canada i n 2 0 0 3 .                    All events have been open to the GTM
leadership from all across the world.                           However, most attendees have been from
North America.            David Gottshall has directed all these "quintessential" gatherings.
N o r t h C a r o l i n a w i l l h o s t t h e 4 t h N G T L Q i n J u n e 2 0 0 5 a t Sa l t e r P a t h , N C .


The basic purpose in holding such meetings was to insure that the GTM would
continue after David's participation in the movement ceases.                                         He currently serves
as director for about 25 retreats/seminars each year.                                     One of those is our North
Carolina retreat.            In fact, David has directed all of our statewide retreats to date
and is scheduled for the 2004 retreat.



"T HE N EXT E VOLUTIONARY L INK "

North Carolina's Great Teachers Retreat is patterned after and heavily influenced
by David himself, as he has been the sole director of the NCGTR as previously
noted.       As Coordinator, one of my responsibilities is to insure that the spirit and
intent of the GTM continues as David originally intended and as so established in
North Carolina.


I became Coordinator by virtue of circumstance.                                      H a v i n g j u s t e xp e r i e n c e d t h e
National Great Teachers Leadership Colloquium in Wisconsin, I developed a sheer
passion for the basic precepts of the GTM. After a phone call from Julie Thompson
in the summer of 1998 announcing her withdrawal as statewide Coordinator, I
humbly accepted those responsibilities and became the next link in what will surely
become a long chain of GT leadership in North Carolina.
"T HE R EASONS               FOR     S UCCESS "

The      National     GTM   is   different   from   most     conventional              staff      development
organizations/movements because its unprecedented and continued success is due
more to what has been left out rather that what has been included. In other words,
emphasizing the ideal that "less is more," the NCGTR is characterized by the noted
absence of. . .

           Manuals or "how to" handbooks

           Organizational officials / organizational structure

           Phones

           Headquarters or national address

           Ownership

           Employees

           Politics

           Institutional or commercial interests

           Ego involvement in GTM leadership


As mentioned earlier, the GTM occurs at a grassroots level amongst interested
educators and is kept alive by oral tradition.           The NCGTR is no exception.                             As a
result, there is no bureaucracy present to impede the creative process that allows
each retreat to be successful.         True to form, the NCGTR is run as a first person
seminar, focused upon each individual's performance in his or her classroom.
There is just enough structure so that something can happen, but not so much that
nothing happens.



"T HE RCC C ONNECTION "

Richmond Community College became the "default" institutional sponsor of the
NCGTR by virtue of my employment therein.                     Each NCGTR is run as a self-
supporting retreat. No college, local, or state monies underwrite any NCGTR. The
College does handle the minimal accounting required to deposit and pay out
monies associated with retreat expenses.            H o we v e r , t h i s i n s t i t u t io n a l i n v o l v e m e nt
in no way impacts the retreat itself.
"T HE S PIRIT & I NTENT                               OF THE            NGTM"

Cross-referenced in this document is The Spirit and Intent of the National Great
T e a c h e r s M o v e me n t w r i t t e n b y D a v i d G o t t s h a l l i n M a r c h 1 9 9 9 .         This writing was
published in order for those who venture into GT leadership to maintain a clear
picture of the spirit and intent of the GTM.                             It also marked the observance of the
               th
G T M 's 3 0        anniversary. It can be found at the National Great Teachers web site at
http://ngtm.net, as well as other information and documents of interest.



"F UTURE GTM G ROWTH                                       IN    N ORTH C AROLINA "

At the time of this update in September 2003, two community colleges have
implemented their own professional development activities as direct offshoots of
the statewide NCGTR.                    These include Fayetteville Technical Community College
(FTCC) in Fayetteville and Isothermal Community College (ICC) in Spindale.                                                My
own college (Richmond CC) has scheduled a Great College Seminar for November
2003 and will be the second known North Carolina community college to do this.
Several others are planned with Richmond's second seminar slated for March
2004.


In September 2000, ICC assembled the first ever "Great Teaching Retreat" held at
Camp Kanuga, the site of the statewide retreat.                                  This event effectively combined
I C C f a c u l t y a n d a d m i n i s t r a t o r s t o g e t h e r i n w h a t b e c a m e t h e s e a r c h f o r g r e at
teaching at Isothermal, examining the interests of both in the teaching process.
Shortly thereafter, FTCC held a similar event at the east coast counterpart of
K a n u g a , T r i n i t y R e t r e a t C e n t e r i n S a l t e r Pa t h , N o r t h C a r o l i n a .     Both of these
events were considered highly successful by those involved.                                                    Both colleges
planned similar retreats in the fall of 2001. ICC put their entire college faculty and
staff through an abbreviated version of the Great College Retreat in February 2003
in a single week!


In conclusion, the NCGTR has become a much-anticipated annual event that allows
community college faculty a chance to learn from each other and find the great
teachers within themselves.                    It is positive, introspective, and intensely focused on
teaching methodologies that work!